The Italian, the Good, and the Bad
by pingo1387
Summary: At last, the end of high school is in sight. Can Feliciano Vargas-Edelstein survive his senior year? Human!AU, high school. Same pairings and perspectives as before. Cover by Radittz.
1. The Toast, the Teasing, and the Boredom

**Holy cow, guys, we are BACK and I don't know about you but I am PUMPED for this.**

 **So for anyone new here, this is the final in a Hetalia high school trilogy, which I fondly refer to as "The Good, the Bad, and the Italian" series. If you need to read the first and/or second story, here are the links:**

 **The Good, the Bad, and the Italian: /s/8716111/1/The-Good-the-Bad-and-the-Italian**

 **The Bad, the Italian, and the Good: /s/10518120/1/The-Bad-the-Italian-and-the-Good**

 **And now that you've done that...**

 **LET'S GO!**

 **(Anyone who says one word about the title's creativity level gets a sock. Just one sock. I'll mail it to you. You won't like it.)**

* * *

"Feli . . ."

"Nn . . ."

"Feli, you're gonna be late."

"That's okay . . ."

"Get up!"

I opened my eyes and shut them again. "Five more minutes . . ."

"You can use those five minutes to have some breakfast," Eliza said gently. "Eggs on toast is waiting for you downstairs. Come on."

She left the room and I slowly sat up. It was really bright outside already.

I got out of bed and went to the closet to get my uniform out.

"First day," I mumbled to myself, pulling on the pants. I grinned. "I'm gonna see everyone again . . ." I glanced at the painting from two years ago, still propped up on the floor (I never had hung it up on the wall). "And I can see Ludwig every day!"

I quickly finished getting the uniform on, tied the necktie, and got downstairs. Stepfather was leaving already.

"Good morning, Feliciano," he said as we passed each other.

"Morning, stepfather!" I said. I sat at the table and, since he was still in earshot, said, "Morning, stepmother!"

"Good to see you awake," she said, smiling. My breakfast was already on the table and I sat down and ate it quickly.

"'s good, thanks!" I said as I finished it off. I stood up, hugged her goodbye, and grabbed my backpack as I went out the door. Then I went back in to put my shoes on before going out again.

The walk to school seemed shorter than I'd remembered. I looked around as I went in and got to my first class—English.

"YO!"

I almost got knocked over when someone jumped out of nowhere and hugged me.

"How was your summer, dude?!" Al asked, pushing me away at arm's length and looking me up and down. "Wow, you are pasty. Didn't get tan at all. I'm ashamed of you."

"What?" I said. "No, I didn't get a lot of sun." I grinned. "You look really tan, though! How was your summer?"

"Oh, it was great," he said happily. He frowned. "Didn't get to see Mei, though. We texted and stuff but then it just . . . stopped."

"I hope she's okay," I said, remembering that she'd had to miss school for a month last year.

"Yeah, same."

"Oh, good god, I'm stuck with you."

We turned to see Artie coming in the door.

"Hey!" Al exclaimed. "Whaddya mean 'Stuck with you?' What's wrong with Feli?"

"What?" I said. "Y-You don't like me?"

"Oh, for—I was talking about you, Alfred," Artie muttered, sitting at a desk. "Hi, Feli. How was break?"

Before I could answer, Al said, "How was break for you? Did you and Francis suck face, like, every day?"

Artie turned pink and glared at Al. "Why must you be so nosy?"

"So you did."

"My love life—"

"Which apparently _sucks_ , ifyouknowwhatimean—"

"—is none of your business."

I sat down next to Artie.

"So, like, I haven't heard from Mei for, like, a year," Al said, sitting next to Artie so he was sandwiched between us.

"It's been a month," Artie corrected him.

Al stared at him. "Um, first off, it's called theatrical exaggeration. And second, how did you know it's been a month?"

"Well, a month ago is when you started complaining about it," Artie said. "So I kind of figured."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"She's okay, isn't she?" I said aloud. "I haven't really seen her."

"She's fine," Artie said reassuringly.

Al leaned over to look him directly in the face. "And how would you know, Mister Bookworm?"

"I think that's her business to tell you," Artie said. "I'm sure you'll see her later today, or at least this month."

"She's here?!"

"Like I said, I don't know for sure."

The bell rang, so Al didn't have a chance to get out of his seat and look for Mei. He slumped back into his chair and muttered something under his breath.

* * *

Second period was pre-calc and the introduction from Mr. Laurinaitis made it look even harder than I'd thought. I didn't see any of my friends in the class, but I guess Ludwig or Artie could help me later.

I put my head down on my desk and stared out the window.

Third period was health class, and it already looked really boring, but the teacher, Ms. Hill, seemed nice. None of my friends were in that class, either.

Then lunchtime came around . . .

* * *

 **Aaaaaand we'll be back every Monday!**


	2. The Reunion, the Kisses, and the Yelling

Lunch started out good. Lovi and Toni were the first ones at the table when I got there.

"Hi, Lovi," I said happily. I hugged him and he pulled away . . . not that I expected anything different.

"Hey," he said, patting my shoulder awkwardly. "How was—"

"How was your summer, Feli?" Toni asked cheerfully. Lovi glared at him.

"It was good," I said. "You guys?"

"Eh," Lovi muttered. "We took up a couple extra jobs, so it was pretty exhausting."

"Oh, that's too bad . . ."

"But we're thinking about heading to IKEA soon to get a table," Toni said. "Then we'll have a place to eat and do homework at!"

"Yeah, but . . . _why_ would you want to do homework?" Al asked, sitting next to us. "Hi, Lovino. Toni, why didn't you wait for me?"

"What?" Toni said. "You were the one who went ahead!"

"Did I? Oh well." he sighed. "Man, I thought trig would be _easy_ . . ."

"Why the hell would you think that?" Lovi asked disbelievingly.

"Like . . . triangles, dude. Triangles, I can deal with. _That_ shit, I cannot."

"You can't deal with anything," Artie muttered as he sat at the table.

"I can deal with _being the greatest human ever_ , which is good, because that's what I am _every day_ ," Al said, sticking out his tongue. "Has anyone seen Mei?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Oh, right!" Al exclaimed suddenly as Herc and Kiku came to the table and sat with us. "Ms. B called Mei's name during second, but she wasn't there!"

"So she's absent," I said.

"Hi," Kiku said.

"Yeah, but why's she absent? What happened?"

"Hi, Kiku," Toni said cheerfully. "Hi, Herc."

Herc raised a hand in response, looking a bit sleepy.

"Look, she'll probably show up eventually, so quit moping," Lovi muttered.

"You can't just _tell_ me to stop moping!"

"I can."

"Yo, what's the word?" Gil said, sliding into a seat with Ludwig. "Sup, losers?"

"You're the only loser here," Artie muttered.

"Hi again, handsome," Francis said, sitting next to Artie and kissing him. Artie grinned at him.

"Look who's talking, you two are huge losers," Gil said.

"Hi, Ludwig!" I said happily. We hugged each other tightly.

"Good to see you're well," Ludwig said, smiling. "How was your summer?"

"Oh, almost forgot!" I said. "I finally got my license!"

"'bout time," Gil said.

Lovi frowned. "Feliciano . . . be careful on the road, okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "I know."

"I'm here," Matt said quietly, sitting next to Gil, who immediately whipped to the side and kissed him full on the lips.

"Oh my _god_ , will you two get a room?" Al groaned. "Preferably one that's not in my house."

"We . . . we live together," Matt pointed out. His face was a bit flushed now that Gil had drawn back.

"Yeah, doesn't mean I want you guys goin' at it while I'm in the next room."

"Hey, speaking of which—" Gil said, but Al raised a hand.

"No, stop right there, I do not need to hear this, it is _way_ too early for this."

"It's . . . 11 AM," Kiku pointed out. I noticed that Herc had fallen asleep.

"It's always too early for this."

"Well," Gil said, folding his arms. "Guess you don't wanna hear about Mei, then."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Al yelled. "Did you kidnap my sweetheart?!"

" _Mein Gott_ , do _not_ yell!" Gil exclaimed. "I swear someone across the damn country heard that!"

"What about Mei?" Lovi asked. "Toni wouldn't tell me anything."

"Wait, what do _you_ know about this?" Al demanded.

"I knew, too," Artie pointed out.

"Did _everyone_ know but me?!"

"No, us four are the only ones, I think," Gil said.

"Mei's moved in with us," Ludwig said abruptly.

"WHAT?!" Al yelled.

"I told you not to yell, Alfie, _gottverdammt_ —"

Everyone had questions: Why? What's going on? What about her dad?

"The thing with her dad is _her_ business," Artie said. "Long story short, she can't live with him right now, and . . ." he gestured to the German brothers.

"We took her in," Gil said cheerfully. "She's gonna live with us for a while in the guest bedroom downstairs."

"Oh, thank the heavens she's okay," Al moaned dramatically. "My dear, sweet Mei, as lovely as a spring day—"

"Cut the poetry, you're terrible," Francis interrupted.

"Okay, but, like . . ." Al said. "Why did you and Toni know?"

"Again, that's private," Artie said. "You can ask her about it, but if she doesn't want to talk about it, so help me god Alfred you will _leave her alone_."

"Please," Toni added.

"Okay, fine," Al muttered. "When's she coming back?"

"Tomorrow," Ludwig said.

Al pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Shut up," Gil muttered. " _Please_."

Kiku quietly brushed some hair out of Herc's sleeping face.

* * *

 **When Gil first found out that the family was taking in Mei for a while, the first thing he said was, "Awesome! I always thought a little sister would be cooler than a little brother." Ludwig proceeded to punch him.**

 **Translations:**

 **Mein Gott = My God**

 **Gottverdammt = Goddammit**


	3. The Talent, the Library, and the Sketch

**Can we update on time every week for this story? Probably not! BUT LET'S TRY!**

* * *

I had current events for fourth, so I was really glad Matt was there.

"Hey," he said, sitting next to me.

"Hi!"

He smiled. "You have any classes with Ludwig so far?"

I sighed. "No . . . and I forgot to ask him his schedule at lunch . . . what about you and Gil?"

He shrugged. "Not so far, but there's two more classes to go."

"Maybe Ludwig's taking painting this year again!" I said suddenly. "He took it in sophomore year—"

"You're in a higher art class, remember?" Matt reminded me. "Even if he was, he'd be in a different class."

"Oh, that's right," I said. "Maybe someone else, then . . ."

Matt shook his head. "I don't think any one of us could have your talent."

I grinned. "You think so?"

He nodded. "I know I couldn't, at least. And taking on a task like doing everyone's portraits isn't something easy."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," I admitted.

He stared at me. ". . . Okay . . . I mean, no rush, right?"

"I should start today . . . who should I start with . . . ? Matt, can I start with you?"

"S-Sure, if you want," he said with surprise.

"Okay, thanks," I said. "Can I get your picture after class?"

"Yeah."

* * *

After I took Matt's picture for reference, I approached the teacher's desk.

"Ms. Burton?"

She looked up.

"I have a free period now," I said. "Where do I go?"

"You can either find an empty classroom or go to the library," she said brusquely.

"Okay, thanks," I said quickly. I left and headed off to the library.

I found Ludwig sitting by himself, reading some papers (probably from previous classes). I sat next to him and he looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Feli," he said. We leaned over and shared an awkward table-hug.

"So it's just us here," I said happily.

He nodded. "So at least we have some time to spend together at school, outside of lunch—"

"Yo," Gil said, sitting with us. "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

Ludwig and I looked at him. "Hi, Gil!" I said. "Hey, now we can all spend fifth together!"

Gil grinned. "Yeah! Uh . . . Luddie, can you, uh . . . stop looking at me like that?"

I glanced at Ludwig. He was looking at Gil with a really scary expression.

"I swear to _Gott_ . . ." he muttered. He took a deep breath.

". . . Anyway," Gil said, "Alfie was right, trig looks like a bitch."

"Oh, yeah, he was complaining about that," I remembered. "Uh . . . wait . . . you weren't there when he was complaining. How'd you know what he said?"

Gil opened his mouth, and then looked surprised. "Huh. I dunno. Weird. But irregardless, trig looks like a bitch."

"You mean 'regardless,'" Ludwig said.

"Irregardless, you're a grammar freak."

" _Regardless_ , you're very sloppy."

"Feli, you gonna do those portraits this year, right?" Gil said, ignoring him. As Ludwig fumed, I nodded.

"Who're you doing first?"

"Matt," I said.

He grinned. "If it's not good, I'm kicking your ass."

"What?!"

"Kidding, I'm kidding, I know it'll be good."

"Don't scare Feli like that," Ludwig hissed.

"I'm fine—"

"He's fine," Gil said. "Geez."

Ludwig glared at him.

* * *

Painting was my last class. It looked like this year was gonna be really fun.

"Oh, I need to start on those portraits," I said to myself.

After class was over, I said, "Mr. Baker? Can I stay here for a while? I have an extra art thing I wanna do."

"Sure," he said cheerfully. "I know you won't cause a ruckus."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I brought out a fresh canvas, pulled up the picture of Matt on my phone, and started sketching an outline.

After I finished the outline, I figured I could be done for the day and start the painting tomorrow. I cleaned up, grabbed my stuff, and headed out.


	4. The Relief, the College, and the Offer

**I wonder if I can survive solely on coffee and soda?**

* * *

When I got home, I heard stepfather practicing his piano (Mozart, I think) as I kicked off my shoes and got off my backpack.

I went into the kitchen and found Eliza at the table, tapping her fingers on the surface. She looked up at me and smiled as I sat down.

"Feli," she said, obviously relieved. "Thank goodness, I was just about to call—is everything fine? Why are you late?"

"Oh," I exclaimed. "Sorry! I forgot to call and let you know!"

She gestured for me to go on.

"I stayed behind to work on an art thing," I said. "And . . . I'm probably gonna be doing that for a while. Is that okay?"

She nodded. "Perfectly fine, as long as you get here in time for dinner. How's everyone at school?"

"Everyone's fine," I said happily. "Lovi and Toni are good, and I got to see Ludwig, and Mei's living with him and Gil for some reason . . ."

Eliza frowned but didn't ask me to elaborate. "Alright," she said. "That's good."

"Hey, Eliza . . ."

"Hm?"

"Do you think I have to go to college?"

She sighed. "Well, your stepfather certainly thinks so," she said. "If it were up to me . . . I'd certainly like you to, but by no means do you have to."

"But I have to?" I asked.

She sighed again. "Your stepfather's the one who will be paying for it, so yes, I think you will have to go. He . . . probably wants you to major in something 'respectable.'"

"What if I don't want to be respectable?"

She laughed aloud at this. "Feli, really . . ." her laughter faded. "I know you want to be an artist, and if you ask me I think you could sell your talent, no problem, even without a college degree. But you know Roderich; he doesn't think painting or drawing is a 'real' job." She scoffed. "Like that man's ever drawn anything decent in his life."

I looked at her.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "In any case . . . you'll have to go to college, but feel free to try to convince your stepfather that majoring in fine art is a good idea."

"What if I can't?"

When I asked that, I realized that a few years ago, or even last year, I might not've even thought to ask that. I might've just assumed I'd be able to convince him.

She shrugged. "I don't know. You know how he is . . ."

I put my head on the table. "Okay."

She patted my arm. "Let's worry about that later," she said, but I'm pretty sure the cheerfulness was fake.

"Later's always good," I agreed. "Hey, when's stepfather's next trip?"

"Weekend after next. Why? Is there something you want to do?"

"I kinda wanna invite Lovi and Toni over for dinner," I said.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea," she said. This time the happiness was real. "They haven't been over in so long, and I want to see Lovino . . ."

"I'll ask them tomorrow," I said. "Hey, can I get a snack?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

At lunch the next day, Mei was at the table before I got there. Al was there next to her.

"Hi, Mei!" I exclaimed as I sat down. "How was your summer?"

She shrugged. "Eventful . . . I guess. How're you?"

"I'm good," I said. "Why're you living with Ludwig and Gil?"

"I don't . . ." she murmured, looking down.

"She doesn't really want to talk about it," Al said quickly, giving her a side hug. She nodded.

"Alright," I said, shrugging.

Everyone else said hi to her when they got to the table.

"Hey, Lovi, Toni," I said when they sat down. "Do you guys wanna come over for dinner weekend after next? 'Cause you haven't been over in a while and Eliza wants to see you, plus stepfather's on a trip."

"Sounds good," Toni said cheerfully.

Lovi glanced at him. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "Free food and all."

"And me and Eliza," I said.

"Yeah."


	5. The Dinner, the Orders, and the Comfort

Everything at school had pretty much settled down. I'd gotten used to my new schedule, even though third and fourth period were still boring. I was almost done with Matt's portrait, too! I figured I could do Al's next, since I had a good sample for the hair and eyes and skin now.

Finally, the Saturday came that stepfather left for his latest trip. Me and Eliza were really looking forward to having Lovi and Toni over for dinner. Eliza was cooking up some pasta with boiled tomatoes, 'cause of course she knew Lovi still liked tomatoes.

"It's all ready," she said, serving up four dishes at the table. "They should be here any second . . ."

I glanced around and tapped my fingers against my leg. "Maybe they got stuck in traffic?"

She looked at me.

"Oh, right, they're riding their bikes. Well . . . maybe there's bike traffic."

She smiled. "Maybe."

There was a knock at the door.

"Oh, coming!" Eliza hurried to the front door and a moment later I heard her say, "Lovino, Toni, come on in!"

Lovi and Toni came in and I hugged both of them. Toni hugged back and Lovi ignored me, but then he brightened when he saw the food.

"Looks good," he said hungrily. He and Toni sat at their places and me and Eliza sat down too. We started to eat.

"How've you two been?" Eliza asked. "Everything okay? School, money, everything good?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Lovi said after he swallowed. "No worse than usual, I guess."

"Well, that's good," Eliza said after a moment.

"How've you guys been here?" Toni asked.

"Kinda the same," I said. "Stepfather's . . . like he always is."

Eliza sighed. "Sad, but true." Then she looked embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No, Eliza—we totally get it," Lovi promised.

"This is really good, Mrs. Edelstein," Toni said.

"Thanks," she said, smiling now.

There was another short knock at the door. Everyone immediately went quiet and looked up.

"I haven't invited anyone else," Eliza said. "Maybe a package, or something . . . ?"

The door opened and a second later we heard footsteps coming towards the table.

"As it turned out," stepfather said as he entered the room, "the flight had to be pushed to tomorrow, so I'll be heading out in the morning. Airlines, for goodness' sake, they can't even get a single flight straight—"

He stopped dead and stared at Lovi and Toni. I think everyone at the table looked like deer caught in the headlights.

". . . _Lovino_?"

I glanced between Lovi and stepfather. Lovi looked really stiff and stepfather just looked shocked.

"Yeah," Lovi said at last. "Sorry to disappoint."

"What are you doing here?"

"Last I checked," Lovi said, glancing around at the table, "I was having dinner."

For a moment stepfather didn't say anything. Then he looked at me and Eliza.

"You both knew about this?"

We nodded.

"And you didn't inform me."

"You said we weren't gonna look for him," I blurted out. "When Lovi ran away, you said we weren't gonna look for him. So we didn't want to tell you."

Stepfather looked at Toni. "And who are _you_?"

". . . Friend of Lovi's, sir," Toni said quietly.

"We've been living together for years," Lovi said bluntly, crossing his arms. "We've done all we can to keep the roof over our heads."

At this stepfather sneered. "Wrong," he muttered. "Two young men living together—where are _your_ parents?" he demanded of Toni.

"That's my business, sir," Toni said stiffly.

"Lovino," stepfather said, turning to him, "get out of my house."

"Excuse me?" Lovi said. His hands were fists under the table.

"Get out of my house, and never come back," stepfather said coldly. "You ran away from this family, and you have to live with your decision. I can't stop you from seeing Feliciano at school—" he looked at me. "But I absolutely forbid you from entering my house. Stay away from my family."

"Fine," Lovi snapped. He stood. "Fine. I'll go. I wasn't trying to be a part of this family in the first place. Who'd want to, when _you're_ in it?"

"Don't talk back to—"

"Fuck you, I'll talk back as much as I want. You gave up being my legal guardian when you stopped caring after I left. Toni, let's go. Eliza, thanks for dinner."

He strode away from the table, and a few moments later the front door opened and slammed shut.

"Thank you, Mrs. Edelstein," Toni said quickly. He glanced at me and stepfather before he hurried out the front door too.

Stepfather watched him go, and then turned back to Eliza and me. "How long have you two known?"

I looked down.

"Since Feli started high school," Eliza said softly. "Roderich, we didn't tell you because of _this_. Lovino doesn't consider himself one of our family anymore, and neither do you. There wasn't any point in telling you if you didn't care."

He glared at her and she flinched, but then glared back. He looked startled before he turned to me.

"Finish your dinner and then go upstairs," he said abruptly. "You're grounded for a week."

"What—why?" I asked.

"Ask again and it'll be two weeks," he said. He turned away. "I'm going to change. I've already eaten."

He left and I heard him go upstairs. I looked at Eliza, who looked like she wanted to cry.

"It's okay," I said quickly, leaning over to hug her. "I'll tell you how Lovi's doing whenever I can, and I can take pictures of him, even though he probably won't like it . . ."

She just shook her head. "I can't believe that man sometimes," she murmured.

I didn't know what to say.


	6. The Roof, the Confession, and the Rescue

**This chapter and the next two take place mid-October.**

 **(Translations at the end, don't worry)**

 **Narrator: Matthew**

* * *

" _Oui, mais s'il a été une sirene, le deux de vous serait des espèces différentes_ ," I argued.

Francis flipped his hair. " _Je dis seulement que j'aimerais lui voir dans l'eau. Je pense qu'il serait gracieuse_."

" _Des_ espèces _différentes_ ," I repeated. " _Il vivrait dans l'eau et tu vivrais sur la terre. Il y aurait des complications dans votre relations, non?_ "

" _Possiblement, mais—_ "

"Sup?"

Francis and I looked up at Gil. He leaned against our library table. It was free period for Francis and I, and we'd decided to just chat quietly in the library.

" _Salut_ ," I said quietly.

He frowned and pulled on my hair curl. After a moment I said, "Hi, Gil. I thought you didn't have this period free . . . ?"

"Oh, I don't," he said. "I'm skipping class."

Francis frowned. "Wow, I just had a flashback to sophomore year. Thanks a lot."

"No prob. Anyway, Mattie, you wanna hang?"

I glanced at Francis.

"Go for it," he said, shrugging. "I'll just read something."

"Alright, see you later," I said, standing. Gil and I left the library.

"Where're we going?" I asked as I followed him outside. The sky was cloudy today.

He winked. "You know where."

I didn't until we got behind the gym.

"Really?" I asked, smiling as he pulled out the old ladder.

"We haven't done this in years, Mattie, come on," he said. He swiftly ascended the rungs and I followed carefully. The thing was getting a bit creaky.

He helped me get onto the roof and we sat a little ways from the edge.

"Remember this is how we met?" he asked, staring out to the trees.

"Yeah," I murmured.

"You were feeling super-down that day, huh?" he continued.

". . . Yeah," I said quietly.

"But hey, I'd been watching you in class for a while," he said, clenching his fist as if he'd just won a great battle. "I am _so_ glad I found you and talked to you."

"Me, too," I said sincerely. "Gil, I . . ."

"What's up?"

I glanced away. "Well . . ."

"Spill."

The wind was starting to pick up. My hair curl bobbed and Gil shivered.

"That day, I . . ." I hesitated. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you . . ."

"Nah, you're already halfway there, just tell me," he said curiously.

I stared at my legs. "It was—just a passing thought, or a few," I said nervously. "Just thinking, you know, no one would miss me, if I . . ."

I glanced at him and lowered my eyes again when I saw him staring.

"I dunno if I could've done it," I mumbled. "Again, it was just in passing, I wasn't feeling well that day . . ."

"How many times?"

I glanced up again. "How many—?"

"How many times did you think about doing it before then? Or after then?"

He looked more concerned than anything, and that kind of got me. I didn't like people worrying about me . . . it always made me feel guilty. I wasn't worth worrying about.

"I don't know," I said at last. "I've hardly thought about it once since I made friends with everyone, and we started d-dating—but before then . . . I don't know."

"I'm taking you out this weekend."

"What?" I asked, startled. I wasn't sure what reaction I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Look, Mattie, I have no clue how to deal with this kinda stuff," he admitted. "All I can really do for you is be there to listen and lavish you in extremely homosexual love. So Saturday or Sunday, we're going out. All day."

"But—"

"No buts, Mattie," he said, throwing an arm around my shoulder. "You deserve all the love."

"I—"

" _All_ the love," he repeated, sweeping his other hand across the sky.

"I do not," I mumbled.

He kissed my cheek. "Do too. Come on, let's go back inside, bell's gonna ring soon."

This made me smile a bit and I hugged him back. "Yeah."

But as we turned to head back, the wind picked up again, and a strong gust made the ladder sway until it crashed to the ground.

The bell rang.

"Oh, shit," Gil said. He started laughing. "Well, guess we're stuck up here!"

"Oh, my god," I groaned. "Gil, I know this is a great romantic spot and all, but can we never come up here again?"

"Yeah, we'll find another roof," he said. "You have your cell with you?"

"It's in my backpack," I said. "Which is in my locker . . . which is _not_ on the roof."

"Right, I've got mine," he said. He took it out of his pocket as we sat cross-legged. "Who out of our friends would not care about missing a few minutes of class?"

"Al probably wouldn't," I said. "And he moves so quickly, he wouldn't miss much."

"Got it," he said. He started typing and I leaned over to see.

 _We are trapped on the roof come help us rn_

Al texted back a second later.

 _wtf whos "we" and whyre u on the roof u fucknugget_

 _ME AND MATTIE JUST GET TO THE GYM YOU PEANUT_

He sat back and sighed. "Anyway, this Saturday good for you?"

"Yeah," I said. "Gil, I . . ."

"Sup?"

"I really love you for this," I said quietly. "I'm doing better . . . than I was a couple years ago . . . and you're the main reason why."

He grinned. "All because I love you, Mattie."

"Yeah," I said.

He leaned in, and I leaned in, too, to close the gap—

"HEY!"

We jumped and crawled to the edge of the roof to see Al looking up at us.

"Alfie, get the ladder!" Gil yelled. "The! Ladder!"

"Got it!" he yelled. With some kind of superhuman strength, he grabbed the ladder and easily set it back up. He held it in place while we got down. By the time we both landed on solid ground, he was cracking up.

"The hell were you lovebirds _doing_ up there?" he demanded after he caught his breath.

"I was skipping class and I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend," Gil snapped. "But as it turns out, wind is not a good partner for ladders."

"No kidding," Al said, laughing again. "Jesus, guys . . ."

"Thanks, Al," I said.

"Yeah, no prob," he said. "I'm off, later!"

He was gone before we could blink. We started heading away from the gym.

The bell rang.

"Well, we were gonna be late no matter what," Gil said calmly.

We split up at the locker bay and his classroom.

"Hey . . ."

He leaned in, and I leaned in, too, to close the gap. This time we succeeded, and he wrapped his arms around me as we kissed.

"See you later," he said as he pulled away. He winked and spun around, heading for his classroom.

"Bye," I said softly, smiling.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Oui, mais s'il a été une sirene, le deux de vous serait des espèces différentes. = Yes, but if he was a mermaid, the two of you would be different species**

 **Je dis seulement que j'aimerais lui voir dans l'eau. Je pense qu'il serait gracieuse. =  
I'm only saying that I'd like to see him in the water. I think he'd be graceful.**

 **Des espèces différentes. Il vivrait dans l'eau et tu vivrais sur la terre. Il y aurait des complications dans votre relations, non? =  
Different species. He'd live in the water and you'd live on land. Wouldn't there be complications in your relationship?**

 **Possiblement, mais - = Possibly, but -**

 **Salut = Hi**


	7. The Carpet, the Dragon, and the Fire

"So," I said as Arthur brought us to his room. "What, exactly, is so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone? Do you have a sexy surprise planned?"

He turned and stared at me. His face was pink—he was always cute when he got embarrassed. It was a Saturday and he'd invited me over, but refused to tell me exactly why, and insisted it wasn't for romantic reasons.

"No, nothing of the sort," he said quietly. We had reached his room, and he went to the bed and did something. I wasn't really sure what.

"Okay, I have something to show you," he said. "But I can't do it here, because you're going to scream. Besides, there's something—important I need to do after I show you—"

He sounded almost sad. I realized he seemed to be holding something in his arms, but I didn't notice what it was.

"Anyway," he said quickly, "we need to go outside."

"So why couldn't we just meet outside? And are your fairy friends here, by the way?"

He shook his head. "No, they . . . know what I'm doing, and they chose to stay in the forest. It's safer that way. And we didn't meet outside because we don't just need to go outside, we need to go _far away_ outside."

". . . How far?" I asked apprehensively.

He pointed to the wall opposite the window of his bedroom. "You know how if you look out that way, you can see a mountain?"

"Yeah," I said. He stared at me.

It clicked.

"We're—you want to go to the _mountain_?!" I exclaimed in shock. "But that's over an hour away! Good god, at least warn me beforehand, then I could let _Maman_ know I'd be skipping dinner!"

"No, it won't take even an hour," he said confidently. "We're not going by car."

"Oh, then how are we going?" I asked sarcastically. "A magic carpet?"

He leaned down like he was setting something on the ground, went to his closet, and pulled out a rolled-up rug.

"You've got to be kidding."

"You listen here," he said firmly, holding it under one arm. "You have _no_ idea what I went through to get this. This beauty is straight from Iran, I'll have you know."

"Then . . . what _did_ you go through to get that?" I asked curiously. "I can't imagine it's easy to travel _there_ nowadays . . ."

"Let's just say it involved a gang war, a Japanese _katana_ , and _way_ too many scorpions," he said, shuddering. "I'll leave the rest to your imagination."

"What—"

"In any case," he said abruptly, "grab your shoes and jacket, it'll be chilly."

I noticed his shoes and jacket were already by the window, so I hurried back down to get my things. When I came back, he was opening up the window and hoisting the carpet out.

I followed him, putting on my jacket and leaving my shoes in my hands, as he did. He went to the side facing the forest (and the mountain), where he carefully laid out the carpet. The design was in royal blue and deep green, a truly ancient Persian pattern, it seemed.

"I'll be right back. Do _not_ sit on this," he warned. He disappeared over the other side and came back again.

"What was that about?"

"I went to tell Dean what was happening, and I had to get our reason for doing this," he explained, which really didn't explain anything. "Anyway . . . we should clean our feet before we sit here."

He lifted one foot, drew out his magic wand from his jacket, and muttered, " _Esnaelc."_ Whatever dirt was on his foot vanished and he set it on the rug. He did the same to his other foot and, after making me take off my socks, did the same thing to my feet. It kind of tickled.

We sat cross-legged on the rug, our socks and shoes in our laps. He shifted where he sat, muttered, "Stay there, okay?" and grabbed the rug corners.

" _Yl'q, z'warp!"_ he exclaimed.

I clutched the edges as the carpet suddenly rose into the air, well above the trees in the forest, and hovered in place.

"Oh, shit," I muttered under my breath.

" _Yl'q, r'pshr ndhs!"_ he exclaimed, and the carpet suddenly shot forward. We held on tightly to the edges as it flew us high above the ground, the trees passing us swiftly below.

"W-Won't—Won't people see us?" I exclaimed.

"No," he said loudly over the rushing wind. "The carpet and its riders are charmed to be unnoticed."

I nodded and looked down.

"We've stopped accelerating," he said, settling back and letting go of the edges. "You can relax."

I sat back. After a bit I started smiling.

"This feels amazing," I exclaimed. "And to think, I never knew things like this existed until almost a year ago . . ."

He grinned. "This is so much better than a broom, I'll tell you what."

I looked at him.

"Trust me, you don't want to, they are _very_ uncomfortable."

"Fine."

I straightened and faced forward again, but then I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. I pretended to yawn very loudly as I stretched out my arms and made to rest one around his shoulders.

He swatted my hand away. "Francis, not now . . ."

"But this is such a perfect romantic setting," I protested. "Just the two of us, on a magical carpet ride together, flying over the land . . ." I grabbed his hand and stared into the distance. " _I can show you the_ —"

"No, _no_ , I do not even know the words to that song," he said, grinning apparently despite himself. "And besides . . . we aren't alone."

"What?" I said, startled. "Did one of your magical friends come, or something?"

"Or something. Like I said, I'll explain when we get there. In the meantime . . . try to contain any romantic gestures."

"I know you like them."

"Yes, but not right _now_ . . ."

"Just one?"

"Alright."

I made him look at me and kissed him on the lips.

"There," I said, grinning as I drew back. "I'll leave you alone now."

His face, of course, was red as usual as I faced forward again, cross-legged and sitting with my hands resting behind me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him touch his lips and smile.

* * *

When we finally touched down after a foreign command from Arthur, I stood and almost fell over from having sat for so long. I quickly got on my footwear, stood, and looked around.

Patches of snow were visible on the slopes above us. As I turned and helped Arthur up, I glanced around and saw that the ground was rock (as was expected of a mountain) and relatively flat.

"So," I said conversationally, "mind explaining why we're here, darling?"

"You know I hate that name . . ."

"I had the opposite impression, based on your expression whenever I use it."

He quickly looked away as if that would make me forget what expression he'd made. "I'll explain, but I must warn you, you're going to scream."

"I won't scream," I promised.

He took out his wand, held it over a place near the still carpet, and muttered something as he twirled it.

I looked down and screamed.

"Alright, see, that's another good reason to be here," he said, wincing. "You could've summoned the damn police with a scream like that."

The creature stood and paced around Arthur's legs, rubbing its scales against him. It was about half his size, green, very scaly, and had a long snout and tail. Its eyes were like a cat's and dark yellow, like egg yolks. Dark, leathery wings were furled on its back.

It snorted and some smoke puffed out of its nostrils. I instinctively moved back several steps.

"Why—do you have a _dragon_?!"

"You don't have to come near him," he said, kneeling to pat the thing's snout. "Sorry to scare you."

"Explain!"

"His name's Hagrid," he said. He sat and the thing—the dragon—curled up next to him. "I've been taking care of him since . . . well, a while now. Since spring from when we were sophomores. Sorry I haven't told you until now, but I knew you'd be scared, and I didn't want to frighten . . ."

He trailed off.

"What do you mean, you knew I'd be scared?" I asked cautiously.

"A lot of dragons can breathe fire, and I know you're afraid of fire," he said. My stomach clenched. Here I was hoping no one would realize . . .

"In any case, he won't spurt flame unless he feels threatened."

I took a cautious step forward and Hagrid the dragon turned his yellow eyes on me. I froze.

"It's okay," Arthur said gently. Whether he was speaking to me or to Hagrid was uncertain. "Don't be scared."

I waited before taking another slow step, and abruptly froze in place when Hagrid stood and approached me. He sniffed my legs and circled.

"Hold out your hand," Arthur said. I lowered my hand very slowly; Hagrid stretched his long neck up and sniffed my fingers with flared nostrils. A second later and he nudged my leg like a dog.

"He likes you," Arthur announced. "Hey, both of you, come over here . . ."

I slowly moved towards Arthur and Hagrid followed. He curled up between us as I sat across from Arthur.

"Hey," I said suddenly, frowning. "I thought . . . didn't you say one time that you were afraid of dragons?"

He nodded. "Yeah . . . in junior high, my brothers and I were on a ski trip in the mountains not far from here. I found an enormous cave and saw a flight of hibernating dragons. One of them opened its eyes, and I got out of there . . ." he shivered. "It was scary. But Hagrid was . . . just an infant when I got him."

"How'd you find him?"

He patted Hagrid's snout. "At lunch one day, I saw Fern and Mari waving to me from the window, so I went outside and found Rowan and Sage there as well. They had Hagrid with them. You see, dragons are actually frowned upon in many of the Western magical communities, so that was even more surprising."

At this point, I wish I knew what his friends looked like just so I'd be able to picture them transporting a small baby dragon from Arthur's house to school.

"Turns out they wanted me to take care of him, since they couldn't bring him far into the forest," he continued. "So . . . that's what I've been doing. For almost two years now . . ."

". . . Oh."

I held out my hand. Hagrid sniffed it and I patted his snout. He closed his eyes.

"Why can I see him?"

As I spoke, the dragon seemed to flicker before my eyes. I blinked.

"Only adult dragons are invisible to those without the Sight," he explained. "The young ones are still visible. So whenever you were over, or Colin or James or Seamus, I charmed him to be unnoticeable."

"I see."

"He's entering adulthood," he said. "So . . . I wanted you to see him before he vanished. Besides . . . I have to let him go."

"Let him . . . go?" I asked. "You don't mean . . ."

"Not _kill_ him," he said, a faint trace of horror in his voice. "He's getting bigger, and soon I won't be able to keep him in my room. The charm in the forest is sure to notice soon, at any rate, and if they find out, I'll be banished from the woods. He needs to live in the mountains . . . winter's coming soon. He can find a place to hibernate and mark his territory here."

He placed a hand on Hagrid's head as he spoke.

"We should leave."

"You don't want more time with him?" I asked, looking up.

"I don't want—to make this any harder." He blinked hard and stood up, going for the carpet after he took off his footwear. Hagrid and I followed him, and I got off my shoes and socks as well.

"Hagrid, you need to stay here," Arthur said. Hagrid stared at him and nuzzled his knee. Arthur shooed him off of the carpet.

"You're going to live here," Arthur said firmly, folding his arms. "Do you understand?"

Hagrid sat away from the carpet and blinked slowly.

"I know you can't fly yet," Arthur said. "But you'll be able to find a nice cave or something, won't you? You're smart."

He patted Hagrid's head. "Goodbye."

Turning back to the carpet, he grabbed the edge and said, " _Yl'q, z'warp!"_

The carpet rose into the air. I was more prepared this time. I looked at Hagrid, who stared up at us.

Arthur took a deep breath and said, " _Yl'q, r'pshr ndhs!"_

The carpet shot forward. Arthur and I looked back and saw Hagrid still sitting there, watching us go. In front of my eyes, he flickered sharply and suddenly vanished.

I looked forward as the carpet's speed evened out.

"Dragon mothers . . ."

I chanced a glance at him. He was staring straight ahead.

". . . leave their young like this," he said. "When the children are old enough, usually by their second year . . . the mother leaves them by themselves. The young ones will wait in the same spot . . . for a few days . . . waiting for their mother to return. When she doesn't . . . they start fending for themselves. They teach themselves to hunt, and fly . . ."

He was crying now.

"So he'll be okay," I said reassuringly.

He nodded. "I'll . . . be fine soon. I just . . ."

I put an arm around his shoulder.

" _I can show you the world_. . ."

This time he joined in with a shaky voice.

* * *

By the time we'd finished singing, he'd composed himself.

"Thought you said you didn't know the words, darling," I said, smiling.

"I lied," he admitted. "Francis . . ."

"Hm?"

"Is there any reason . . . why you're afraid of fire?"

My chest started to ache at the thought.

". . . Yes."

"Would you tell me?"

I swallowed. "I . . . yes, but . . . I've never told . . . anyone."

"You don't have to."

"I feel like I should," I said quietly. "Just . . . give me a minute."

He nodded. We rode in silence for a bit.

". . . Arthur, you . . . wouldn't hate me, would you?"

"Why would I?"

I shrugged.

"No, I wouldn't," he said.

"Thank you."

I sighed.

"I was . . . seven years old at the time," I began slowly. Each word was difficult to say.

" _Papa_ and I were . . . very close. One day, in May . . . he was taking a nap in . . . the bedroom. I wanted to surprise . . . him when he woke up. I brought candles from downstairs . . . and set them around the room . . . and used the lighter to light them. It was all . . ." I shivered. "It was very pretty, I was . . . so sure he'd like it."

I paused for a moment.

"I left the room . . . but I didn't notice that I'd . . . knocked some candles over."

I heard and felt my voice get thick. I rubbed at my watering eyes.

"Next thing I . . . remember . . . the whole house was . . . burning down. _Maman_ and I made it out . . . but . . . _Papa_ didn't."

I started crying. I never liked crying in front of people, but I couldn't stop myself.

"It's . . . my fault he died—" I hiccuped.

I looked at Arthur. He was staring at me with something like sympathy and shock.

"Oh, Francis . . ." he murmured. "You poor thing . . . that's horrible."

I wanted to go on, to tell him how I'd never told _Maman_ , how she'd only notice me if she needed help with something, how ever since _Papa_ 's death she hadn't been the same—

But I didn't. He didn't need to know that.

He moved closer to me and brought my head to his shoulder. I cried for who knows how long, and when I finally stopped, leaving only the ache in my chest, the forest was in view.

"Thanks for listening," I whispered.

"Of course," he said softly. "Hey . . . I don't think it was your fault. Accidents happen all the time. You don't have to blame yourself."

I shook my head. "That'd be hard to do . . ."

"I wouldn't blame you," he said. "If it was me . . . I wouldn't blame you."

I nodded slowly.

"Arthur . . . can the dead . . . ever come back? As ghosts, or . . ."

". . . No," he said quietly. "I'm afraid not."

He told the carpet that foreign command again and we touched down on his roof. The sun was low in the sky, casting soft orange light all around us.

* * *

 **(Arthur's friends brought the baby Hagrid to school in chapter 33 of the first story.)**


	8. The Store, the Blonds, and the Order

**I'm only posting this a couple minutes after midnight because my internet keeps going out on me. I am very sorry.**

* * *

"Lovi, come on, we need to go!"

He groaned and sat up on the couch. "Fine . . ."

"You feeling okay?" I asked, checking his forehead.

He swatted my hand away. "'M fine, just tired as fuck."

"We can go another time . . ."

"Nah," he muttered, getting on his jacket and grabbing his bike. "We already agreed to go today."

I shrugged. "Okay, if you're sure . . ."

I grabbed the lock and key, followed him out, and locked the door behind me. We wheeled our bikes down the stairs and out the front. Once outside we strapped on our helmets and hopped on.

"Follow me," I said as we started pedaling.

"I swear, if you get us lost—"

"Hey, since when have I gotten us lost?" I pointed out. "Have a little faith, Lovi."

"Nn."

The rest of our ride was quiet on the conversation front.

* * *

The IKEA was only about five miles away, so we got there in no time at all! A lot of parts were uphill, but that just meant we'd have an easier and faster ride back to the apartment.

I told Lovi this as we locked up our bikes, but he just rolled his eyes.

"Cheer up," I said, smiling as I smoothed his hair (staying away from the curl). "How long have we been waiting for a chance to come here?"

"For a bed, I dunno," he muttered. He didn't push my hand away.

"Yeah, but we don't need another bed anymore," I reminded him. "So let's go look for a table and chairs! Think about it, we'll have a place to sit and eat, we can do our homework and write and draw properly instead of lying on the floor . . ."

"Yeah," he said. Finally he brushed away my hand.

"And you can write your story," I added.

He stiffened. Well, that was never a good sign. "What?"

I shrugged. "Was it supposed to be secret? I'm sorry . . . I saw the papers you did on character designs and stuff . . ."

He looked down. "Oh, that's . . . fine, then. Just don't look again."

"Okay, sorry," I said quickly.

". . . I'll show you sometime. Just don't look unless I'm showing you."

I grinned. "I bet it's gonna be great."

He shrugged.

"Anyway, let's go," I said. We headed inside the huge store.

* * *

"Find'ng ev'ryth'ng 'kay?"

Lovi and I were checking out a good table-and-chairs set when an employee came up to us. We looked up.

"We're good, thanks," Lovi muttered.

"Hey, excuse me," I said quickly. "Sorry, but . . . do I know you?"

The guy had blond hair, glasses, and a stern-looking face.

He shrugged. "Mayb'. Y'look high sch'l age . . ."

I told him our school.

"Ah," he muttered. "I us'd t' teach th're."

"Hang on," Lovi said, looking at him curiously. "Weren't you the wood shop teacher? Our friend told us you had a breakdown or something."

Mr. Oxenstierna—I think that was his name—stopped talking and stared straight ahead.

"Uh," I said quietly. "Anyway, I think we're doing fine, sir."

"Y'r par'nts here w'th y'?" he asked abruptly.

Lovi and I glanced at each other.

"No, we're shopping alone," Lovi said.

He glanced at his watch and cleared his throat. "I'm . . . goin' on break now. M' wife 'n m' fr'nds 'r on break, too. If y'r h'ngry, we've got snacks. Y'could join us."

We glanced at each other again.

"Are the snacks free?" Lovi asked.

Mr. Oxenstierna nodded.

"Then yes, please," I said gratefully.

* * *

When we got to the employee break room, there were four other employees already there. One man with messy dirty-blond hair, two men with pale blond hair, and a woman with light blond short hair.

"Hey, hon," the woman said as Mr. Oxenstierna sat next to her. She smiled at us. "So who're these?"

"Kids fr'm th' school I taught at," Mr. Oxenstierna said. He pointed to a small sofa and Lovi and I sat down. "Said they're here alone, thought they could come 'n join us for snacks."

He glanced at us. "L'me 'ntr'duce y'. M' wife, Ms. Tina; Mr. Emil . . ." he gestured to one of the men with pale blond hair, almost silver, and a bit messy like he hadn't combed it this morning. He nodded.

"Mr. Lukas . . ." this was the other man with pale blond hair. His eyes were dark blue and he looked very quiet. He looked at the ground and moved over on the couch like he was making room for something. I thought I saw the spot he opened up shift, but I probably imagined it.

"And this guy," Mr. Oxenstierna finished, pointing to the man with messy dirty-blond hair. His eyes were bright blue.

"You're not gonna introduce me, Ber?" the man said loudly.

Lovi scowled. Even without him opening his mouth, I knew he was annoyed.

"I don' feel like it," Mr. Oxenstierna mumbled.

"This is Mr. Andersen," Ms. Tina said quickly.

"No need for the 'Mr,' kids, you can just call me Andersen," Mr. Andersen said cheerfully.

"Okay, Mr. Andersen," Lovi said.

In the center of the couches was a small table with snacks on it. I could have sworn they weren't there before, but I probably just wasn't paying attention. Still . . . I saw Lovi frown when he saw them, but he shrugged.

"So . . ."

"H'lp y'rselves," Mr. Oxenstierna said.

We reached and grabbed a couple of cookies. I wondered how long it'd been since I'd last had a cookie.

"So you're shopping by yourselves?" Mr. Lukas asked. "Your parents must trust you."

"Don't patronize us, sir," Lovi said bluntly.

I smacked his shoulder. "Hey, don't be rude! Our parents . . . are busy right now, so we're taking care of this."

"Y'were lookin' at th' table 'n chairs," Mr. Oxenstierna commented.

I nodded. "Yeah, that set looks good, and it's a good pr—it's what we're looking for."

He nodded slowly.

"Did you drive here?" Mr. Emil asked curiously. "If you go to _that_ school, you probably don't live in this area . . ."

"It's not _that_ far," Lovi said. "We biked."

"Oh, that's right," I said. I glanced around. "Uh, when we buy the table and chairs . . . is it possible to, uh, get it delivered . . . ?"

"Yeah, of course!" Mr. Andersen exclaimed. "It'll cost a little more, but if you're cool with that, then yeah, we totally deliver."

For some reason he reminded me of Gil, or maybe Alfie.

"If y'r all set, I c'n ring y'up in 'bout ten min'tes," Mr. Oxenstierna said. "After break."

"Yes, thank you," I said gratefully.

"Emil," Mr. Lukas said abruptly. "Jaspis says you left the front door unlocked again."

Mr. Emil sighed. "Well, I doubt anyone would want to rob my house. Mr. Puffin would probably scare them away."

"You have a puffin?" Lovi asked incredulously.

Mr. Emil nodded. "He's like a gangster. It's very annoying."

"A gangst—?"

"Jaspis says next time you leave the front door unlocked, he's going to eat Mr. Puffin," Mr. Lukas said.

"Please, he'd be doing me a favor," Mr. Emil muttered.

Lovi sighed. I wondered who Jaspis was, but it was probably rude to ask.

* * *

". . . So . . . th' two-chair set, righ'?"

We nodded. Mr. Oxenstierna was ringing us up for the table and chairs.

"Two chairs," he muttered to himself, looking at us oddly. He told us the amount and I reached for my wallet. I quickly pulled out the cash, counted it out, and handed him the bills. He looked surprised, but went with it and entered it in and gave me the change. Then, when he asked, I told him our address.

"Righ' then, we'll have 'em delivered in a week 'r so," he mumbled. "H've a good day . . . 'n a safe trip home."

"Thanks, sir," I said gratefully.

"Thanks," Lovi mumbled.

We left the store and got on our bikes.

"Hey, we did it!" I exclaimed. "We're gonna get our table!"

He nodded and grinned a bit. "Yeah . . ."

"Chin up, let's get back," I said cheerfully. "We can rest a bit before dinner!"

He shrugged. "Sure."

We left and headed on home.

* * *

 **Allow me to clarify:**

 **\- Finland (Tina) is trans**

 **\- Lukas and Emil (Norway and Iceland) are biological brothers to two demi-wizards**

 **\- Lukas is a full wizard and Emil is mortal**

 **\- Jaspis is the name I've given to Lukas's troll friend**


	9. The Vagueness, the Worry, and the Glare

**Holy hell I am so sorry this is late. I couldn't access my stories here until this morning.**

* * *

"Hi Artie, hi Al!" I said as I went into English. The bell hadn't rung yet.

"Sup, Feli!" Al said. "How'd your weekend go?"

"It was okay," I said, sitting down. "How was yours?"

"Pretty good," he said. He sighed happily. "Mei and me got to go out, finally . . ."

"Why couldn't you before?"

He shrugged. "I think it was, like, with the whole thing with her dad, she wasn't feeling up to it 'til recently, which y'know was fine with me and all, if she needs her space I ain't gonna crowd her and stuff, and now that she's feeling up to it I guess that means she's doing good so that's good too!"

Artie made a "tsk" sound. "Your punctuation is terrible, Alfred. You have too many commas; you should use more semicolons and periods."

"What?" Al and I said at the same time.

"Nothing."

"Anyway, how'd your weekend go?" Al said. "You and Francis chill, or . . ."

"'Chill' is definitely the right word," Artie said. "The weather was cold, for sure."

"Why were you outside, though?"

Artie quietly hummed a song. I think it was from _Aladdin_ , but I couldn't remember the name.

"You're weird," Al decided.

* * *

"So Lovi and I finally got a table," Toni announced at lunch.

"Oh, nice," Gil said.

"Yeah, well, it's not _here_ yet," Lovi muttered. "We're getting it delivered."

"Hey, just remembered—remember the old wood shop teacher who quit?" Toni said. "We met him at the IKEA. He's working there now with friends and his wife."

"Oh hey, good for him!" Al said. "Hope he's doing better . . ."

"Seemed like it," Toni said, shrugging. "One of his friends seemed weird, though—"

"They were _all_ weird," Lovi said.

"—No, that one who was talking about a friend of his who said he'd eat the puffin."

"What?" Artie said.

"Look, any way you look at it, they were all weirdos," Lovi said.

Toni shrugged. "They were nice, though."

"Still weird."

"Puffin?" Francis muttered.

* * *

I caught up with Lovi as he was trying to go to his next class.

"Hey, Lovi," I said quickly.

"Hey."

"I was wondering," I said. "Are you, um—are you doing okay?"

He shrugged. "As okay as I'll ever be."

I frowned. "That doesn't sound like you're okay."

"Yeah, well . . . look, at this rate you'll be late for class. Get going."

He went ahead and hurried into his class. I sighed and turned to go to my own class. Sure enough, I was a minute late.

* * *

". . . Yes!"

I finally finished Al's portrait and carefully moved it to the storage room. I put it next to Mattie's finished portrait so it would dry and went back to clean up the other stuff.

The sun was low in the sky by the time I got home. Eliza was a bit worried and I apologized for not calling her earlier. I hung out in my room for a while before dinner was ready.

"So how was school?" Eliza asked, as usual, after she finished serving up dinner.

"It was okay," I said.

"How's . . ." she glanced at stepfather and then looked back at me. "How's Lovi?"

Stepfather glared at her. "Eliza, remember what I said—"

She glared back. "Roderich, it's not like he's coming back here. Even if you don't think he's part of the family, he's still Feli's friend, and I have every right to ask about Feli's friends."

She turned back to me before he could say anything. "Anyway, how is he?"

"He's okay, I think," I said, ignoring stepfather. "He and Toni finally bought a table for their place."

"Oh, good for them," she said, smiling. She looked at stepfather. "Something wrong, Roderich?"

He scowled. "No," he said flatly.


	10. The Boring, the Ideas, and the Skeletons

**With how similar the titles in this trilogy are, I worry that one day I'll update one of the previous two by accident. That was probably an oversight on my part.**

* * *

"So, real talk," Gil said at lunch. "Are we doing anything for Spooky Day?"

"Halloween," Artie said.

"That's what I said. So are we doing anything?"

"Last year's Halloween was fun," Kiku murmured.

"The thing is . . ." Toni said, "I think we'd end up telling the same stories, or just run out of stories altogether."

"Hm, good point," Gil said. He pointed at Ludwig. "Luddie. Ideas."

Ludwig stared at him. "Why are you asking me?"

"Good point, you're too boring. Guys? Anything?"

"Ludwig isn't boring," I argued. He smiled at me.

"Okay, but you _have_ to say that 'cause you're dating him," Gil said. "So, ideas?"

"Dance party," Al suggested.

"I don't dance," Artie said flatly.

"You can fake it, loser."

"What does . . . dancing have to do with . . . Halloween?" Herc asked quietly.

Al stared at him. "Dancing has something to do with _everything_ ," he said solemnly. "We can build a bonfire and dance around it to ward off evil spirits."

"That's not a real thing," Artie said.

"I'd rather not dance around something like that anyway," Francis muttered.

"So if we're not gonna have a dance party, what're we gonna do?" Al demanded.

"Who says we have to do anything?" Toni asked. "We could just stay home."

"Uh, sure, if you're _boring_ ," Gil said.

"Or tired, or have homework," Lovi pointed out.

"Yeah, but Spooky Day's on a Saturday this year," Gil said. "So you can finish your homework the day before."

Artie frowned. "That doesn't make sense . . . Halloween was on a Saturday _last_ year . . . the dates don't match up."

"Was it?" Al said. "Whatever. Anyway, ideas. We can't just keep going in circles here."

"Horror movies."

Everyone looked at Matt.

"We could marathon horror movies," he said quietly.

Gil snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Yes. Absolutely. Why didn't I think of that?"

"'Cause you're obviously not as cool as my bro," Al said. "Awesome idea, Mattie. So we can all bring one or two and we'll just watch what we feel like?"

"That actually does sound decent," Artie said. "Where should we do it?"

"Our place is out," Toni said immediately.

"Right," Al said, nodding. "Mattie, you think mom and dad would let everyone come over?"

Matt shrugged. "I mean . . . probably."

"Cool, so that's an option. Anyone else available?"

"My TV isn't very good," Kiku said. "I don't think my house would work . . ."

"Same here," Herc said sleepily.

"Definitely not my house," Artie muttered. "It's too crowded already."

"My place is out," Francis said, though he didn't elaborate.

"I don't think my house would work," I said. "Eliza wouldn't mind, but stepfather doesn't want . . . he wouldn't appreciate so many people coming over at once."

"Hey, Luddie, Mei, what about our place?" Gil asked them. "You think _Vati_ would care?"

Mei shrugged. "I don't know . . ."

"He probably would," Ludwig said.

"Well, d'you think you could ask him if mom and dad say no?" Al asked.

"Yeah, can't say he'll agree, but sure," Gil said.

"Sweet, that's settled," Al said. "Also, I demand at least one movie with a talking skeleton."

"Why?" Mei asked.

"Sweetie, have you _seen_ talking skeletons?" Al demanded. "They are the _best_."

"They're creepy," I said quietly. "How do they talk or move without muscles?"

"Dark magic," Al said.

"You know, if you want to see a talking skeleton so badly, you could always bring a movie yourself," Artie pointed out. "How about _Nightmare Before Christmas_ or _Corpse Bride_?"

"Oh, FUCK YEAH!" Al yelled. "I love Tim Burton!"

"Do not yell," Gil snapped.

"I've never seen those two," I remarked.

"Yeah, neither have I," Lovi said.

"I've seen _Corpse Bride_ , but not the other one," Francis said.

"Wow, you guys are in for the ride of your life," Al said gleefully. "Anyway, Mattie, you and me, we'll go ask the 'rents, and when they say yes we'll start planning."

Matt nodded.

" _Nightmare Before X-Mas_ isn't really a horror movie, though," Gil commented.

"Yeah, well, Halloween," Al said dismissively.


	11. The Gravity, the Approval, and the Cards

"So, what'd they say?"

Al and I looked over at Artie. We both had our heads on our desks. He was sitting up straight.

"What'd who say 'bout what?" Al asked.

"Your parents, about the movie night," Artie prompted.

"Ah, shit, I forgot to ask them," Al groaned.

"Good job."

"That's okay, you can ask tomorrow," I said.

"Yeah, that'll work," Al agreed. He closed his eyes and then opened them. "Man, I wish I was Herc, then I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat."

Artie looked at him. "No, you really don't want narcolepsy. Have you ever had insomnia?"

"Yeah, for like a year, a few years ago . . ." Al said. "But aren't those like opposites?"

"Kind of, but point is, narcolepsy is just as bad as insomnia."

"And how would you know?"

Artie shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe, when I know that one of my friends has a disorder, I take the time to look up symptoms to understand what they're going through, and understand _them_ a little better."

"Meh," Al said. "I just go with what they wanna share. I couldn't remember all that anyway. Or maybe I could. I dunno."

"Never know until you try," I said.

"I know that I'll die if I jump off a cliff. I don't have to try _that_ to know it."

"Yes, some poor person solved that puzzle for you a long time ago," Artie muttered.

"Maybe it was Newton," Al said, staring at the wall. "He discovered gravity, right? And before him everyone flew around like it was space, but then the apple fell on his head, and he was like, 'Oh shit, gravity is a thing now,' and then everyone was really happy 'cause they didn't have to float everywhere, and then Newton fell off a cliff or something, and then everyone knew that walking off cliffs will totally kill you so don't do it and stuff, and even when Newton was dead, he'd discovered gravity before, so gravity stayed, and now we have Fig Newtons."

I frowned. "Are you sure that's how it happened?"

"A hundred percent sure. I don't need to take history or physics to know that that's what happened. It's like how everyone knows that the Earth's hollow in the middle."

"Wait, it is?" I asked.

"Oh, totally. We just don't have the money to explore inside it, 'cause it's, like, _way_ down there, y'know? We can barely afford to go to the moon again, and you've seen how close the moon is, just look up on a clear night."

"That . . . doesn't really sound right," I said.

"That's because it's not," Artie said. "Alfred, there were at least fifteen things wrong with everything you said."

"Nah, I'm right all the time. Ask anyone."

* * *

"What do you _mean_ you asked them?!"

Matt winced. "Al, don't shout . . ."

"Seriously, Alfie, we've talked about shouting," Gil snapped.

"You have, sure—"

"I asked mom and dad about the movie night because I knew you would forget," Matt said patiently. "It's nothing to get upset about."

"Okay, fine," Al muttered.

"So, what'd they say?" Francis asked.

"They said it was okay, and they're going to a Halloween party that night anyway," Matt explained. "We just have to make sure not to trash the place." He looked around at everyone. " _Please_."

"Your parents are . . . out of the house a lot," Herc commented.

Al and Matt shrugged.

"Yeah, they're pretty lax," Al said. "Mattie and me can take care of ourselves."

"We should start talking about what movies we'll bring," Ludwig suggested. "We should make sure no one brings the same movie as someone else, and nothing R-rated—I know we're all 17 or 18, but just in case—"

"Yeah, we'll work that out tomorrow," Gil said dismissively.

"But—"

"So who's up for a round of cards?" he asked, bringing out a deck.

"Why do you have those?" Toni asked curiously.

"Brought 'em in case I needed an excuse to interrupt someone."

Artie blinked. "Now that's thinking ahead."

* * *

 **Hey, I'm gonna do a little call to action here. I'd like help from you guys.**

 **I need suggestions on what movies the squad's gonna watch. They need to be horror films, or if not that, at least Halloween-themed. No R-rated films, and Nightmare Before Christmas + Corpse Bride are already on the list.**

 **Squad's meeting at Al and Mattie's house around six, so I figure if they go to midnight, I'll use that to gauge how many movies they can watch, based on the length of the suggestions. I'll be watching the films myself beforehand, if I can, so I can determine if it's good to go for the chapter.**

 **Movie-watching's gonna be chapter 13 (coincidentally). Please make sure to submit suggestions (either by review, PM, or tumblr) before Sep. 23!**


	12. The Motion, the Newtons, and the Pennies

**I'm so sorry, I know I said I'd try to watch the movies myself, but due to circumstances beyond my control I cannot. I promise it's not because I'm scared, I just don't have the time.**

 **In fact, remember when I said I want to finish this trilogy before I finish high school? Well, by the time you read this, I'll have moved into my college dorm.**

 **Welp.**

 **Anyway, I'll have to make do with reviews/summaries for the movies, and I'll check the runtimes as well.**

* * *

"Sup, Feli," Gil said, sitting with me and Ludwig. "Hey, how're the paintings coming along?"

"I'm doing Artie's and Herc's now," I said. "They're pretty similar, so I can do them back-to-back."

"Similar?" Ludwig asked. "Since when do they look similar?"

"But they do," I said in surprise. "They have exactly the same skin tone and their eyes are exactly the same shape and color. They even have the same little dark flecks in the irises. I mean, Herc always has rings around his eyes, but other than that . . ."

"Haven't noticed," Gil said, leaning back in his chair. "Guess you'd need an artist's eye to see it."

I shrugged. "I only saw it when I got a closer look . . ."

"They couldn't be related, right?" Ludwig muttered. "Then again, Alfred and Matthew are Arthur's cousins, and they don't look much like him . . ."

"Probably just a coincidence," Gil decided. "Speaking of Alfie and Mattie, Spooky Day's pretty soon."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I've never been to their place before . . ."

"It's a nice house," Gil said. "Like . . . really generic '90s suburban style."

"I dunno what that is, but okay. Oh yeah," I added, "do you guys know who discovered gravity?"

They glanced at each other.

"Galileo, right?" Gil said. "He dropped shit off the leaning tower of Pisa and then the Church arrested him."

"No, I think it was Aristotle who first experimented with motion," Ludwig argued. "Galileo's experiments followed his writings, and Newton was the first to write the laws we call the first, second, and third laws of motion."

"Wait, so . . . people didn't float around until those guys came along, right?"

They stared at me.

"No," Gil said. "I mean . . . even before you discover a thing, it's still there before you name it, unless it's something you invented, like the Slinky or the microwave."

"Oh, okay," I said, nodding. "That makes sense."

Ludwig smiled. "Who told you that?"

"Al."

Gil laughed. "Of course it was him. Don't listen to him if he tries teaching you things, he has _no_ idea what he's talking about."

"So he was wrong about Fig Newtons being named after the gravity guy?"

"Oh, no, he was right about that," Gil said.

Ludwig frowned. "No, he wasn't. Fig Newtons weren't named after Isaac Newton."

"They weren't?" Gil and I asked together.

"Then who?" Gil demanded.

Ludwig shrugged. "I don't know who, I just know they weren't named after _that_ Newton."

Gil pulled out his phone. "Probably some smart dude, to come up with a way to make figs taste good . . ." he typed something in and read something. "Oh. Says they were named after the town Newton, Massachusetts."

"Well, there you go," Ludwig said. "Nothing to do with Isaac Newton."

Gil shrugged and put away his phone. "Anyway . . ."

"How's Mei doing?" I asked. "I don't see her a lot, so . . ."

"She's doing well," Ludwig said. "I feel like she's more settled in now."

"Oh, that's good," I said in relief.

"Alfie actually threatened me on that," Gil remarked. "Said something about breaking my legs if we hurt her. Like we'd ever do that, I mean, she's our friend. I had to throw some pennies to distract him so I could get away."

"You threw money?"

"Just some pennies, dude, basically nothing. Why do they even make pennies anymore?"

"Good question," Ludwig muttered. "I've heard they're planning to stop production, but . . . I suppose it would make things complicated with prices not divisible by five."

"Oh, right," Gil agreed. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, who pays in exact change?"

"I once saw someone pay for something in nothing but pennies," I remembered. "I think the whole cost was about five dollars."

"Wow, what an asshole," Gil exclaimed. "Poor cashier."

"Why did they have that many pennies?" I wondered. "I never really thought about it . . ."

"Some people like to collect them," Ludwig explained.

"Ah, so that's why they should stop making pennies," Gil said. "Then collectors' pennies will have more value, right?"

Ludwig sighed. "That's not even what—"

"So who's up for a round of cards?" Gil asked, bringing out the deck again.

"You did that earlier."

"Yeah, but it's relevant again. So, go fish or strip poker?"


	13. The Cuddling, the Films, and the Driving

**Guys, thanks for your suggestions! I'm so sorry I wasn't able to watch the movies myself, and I'm so sorry I had to base the vague descriptions and the squad's reactions based on images, summaries, and reviews.**

 **Spoilers ahead for the movies they list before they start.**

 **Thank you to Hinotori-hime and skeletonskin for the movie suggestions!**

 **(By the way, I _may_ have to change this story's rating to M, depending on how things go later on (no explicit love scenes or anything, something else))**

* * *

I'd barely knocked on the door (which had a sign on it that said "NO CANDY HERE") when it flew open and Al pulled me in.

"Yo, Feli, come on in!" he exclaimed. "We've got popcorn and stuff cooking!"

"Oh, cool!" I said happily. I went up the stairs with him and saw the living room to my left. Herc, Kiku, Artie, and Francis were already there, hanging out on the sofa and loveseat.

We all said hi to each other and I sat next to Kiku. I smelled the popcorn from the kitchen. Matt must've been in there, keeping an eye on it.

There was another knock on the door. Al jumped down the stairs (I was almost worried he'd break something) and a moment later Ludwig, Gil, and Mei came up to the living room. As everyone exchanged greetings, I got up and brought Ludwig over to sit by me.

"I'm going to use you as a pillow if things get too scary," I declared.

He smiled. "I'm . . . okay with that."

"There's no one here as strong as you, anyway."

"A-hem!" Gil exclaimed. "What about me?"

I looked over. "What about you . . . ?"

He gasped. "A dismissal?! How dare you!" he looked at Al, who was busy smoothing out Mei's hair. "Alfie, where are you hiding your bro?"

"Mattie's in the kitchen getting food and stuff," Al said quickly.

"Al, you don't have to be a hairbrush," Mei said quietly, smiling as Gil went to the kitchen. There was a surprised yelp and a, "Did I scare you?"

"Lovi and Toni are coming, aren't they?" I asked, looking around.

"Yeah, they RSVP'd and stuff, I guess it just takes longer by bike," Al said, following Mei to the room. "Come to think of it, where do they live?"

"Their apartment place is pretty close to the plaza," I said as he and Mei sat next to Ludwig and me. "I guess it takes a while to bike here."

Gil and Matt came out from the kitchen, each carrying a big bowl of popcorn.

"Hey, so, where're we gonna sit?" Gil asked, looking around as he and Matt set the bowls on the coffee table.

"You guys, scoot over—" Al said, nudging Ludwig. Everyone on the sofa moved over to the left and Gil sat on the right corner, pulling Matt onto his lap.

"Well, I _guess_ this works," Gil said.

"I'm fine with it," Al said, hugging Mei close.

Gil sighed. " _Yeah_ , but . . . you're shoving your heterosexuality in my face."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm fine with you being heterosexual, I just don't want you shoving it in my face. It's against my morals and I do not want my children exposed to that sort of thing."

As Mei and Francis laughed, the doorbell rang. Matt got off of Gil (who looked disappointed) and went to get it. He came back up with Lovi and Toni soon.

"Okay, but—hey, guys!" Al exclaimed. "Okay, Gil, but you don't _have_ any children?"

"Why was that a question?" Toni asked. "And what . . . well, never mind. We're here!"

"Stop the presses," Lovi muttered.

"Sorry we're late, couldn't find the place," Toni explained. He looked around. "So . . ."

"Oh, yeah, we should get started with the movies and stuff," Al said. "Mattie, you're already up, can you—?"

"Yeah," Matt said. "So what movies do we have?" he went to another room and quickly came back with a DVD. "Al and I have _Nightmare Before Christmas_."

"Here . . ." Herc brought out another one. " _The Sixth Sense_."

"Ooh, that one's good," Artie murmured.

" _Watcher in the Woods_ ," Gil said proudly, pulling it out.

"Never heard of that one," Francis remarked.

"It's pretty good," Ludwig said.

"I brought _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ ," Artie said. He took it out of his shirt.

"Alright, is that all?" Al asked, looking around. ". . . Okay, cool! So which one are we doing first?"

After a lot of arguing, we decided to watch _The Watcher in the Woods_ first, and that Gil, Matt, Lovi, and Toni would take the loveseat to switch with Artie and Francis. The sofa was pretty crowded, but cozy.

"Just give me a second," Matt murmured. He put the disc in, turned on the TV, hit play, and went back to his seat.

"When was this made?" Francis asked as the film opened up showing a nuclear family.

"1980," Ludwig whispered.

"Thought so. It looks like it."

As the movie went on, the people started talking about a girl named Karen, who'd vanished a long time ago. It wasn't really scary, but I jumped when there were loud noises. I rested my head on Ludwig's shoulder.

"That was . . . a really fake scream . . ." Herc murmured after one scene.

"Hush," Gil hissed.

It was kind of confusing, but the girl Karen who'd disappeared came back at the end of the movie with a blindfold on. She took it off as her mom came in and the credits showed.

"That was strange," Kiku said as Matt got up to pop out the disc. "Are most American horror movies like that . . . ?"

"No, they're not usually that bad," Lovi muttered.

"Hey!" Gil exclaimed.

"What? The acting was terrible, the plot was weird, the ending made no sense—"

"Yeah, but . . . I like that movie," Gil muttered.

Ludwig nodded. "It's not . . . top-tier, but I like it."

"It was okay," I said.

"I liked it," Toni offered.

"It was awesome," Al declared.

Matt cleared his throat. "What're we watching now, guys?"

"I kinda wanna save _NBC_ for last, is that okay?" Al said. "Okay, good. So, _Sixth Sense_ or _Something Wicked_?"

Artie and Herc glanced at each other.

"Do you—?"  
"You can—"

They both hesitated.

"I say _Sixth Sense_ ," Toni offered.

"Thank you," Francis said in relief.

Matt got the disc out and put it in.

Almost right away, someone got shot. I jumped.

"And the credits roll," Gil said sarcastically.

"Hush," Artie hissed.

I snuggled next to Ludwig. The movie introduced a little kid who could talk to ghosts, but no one else could see them and they didn't know they were dead. Some of the ghosts looked really scary—they had blood all over them, or creepy wounds. I had to hide my face a few times, and when the ghost with burns all over came onscreen, I noticed that Francis and Artie hugged each other really tightly.

At the end, it turned out that the doctor who'd been talking to the kid was dead all along.

"Is it over?" Al mumbled. He was hiding his face in Mei's shoulder.

Mei smiled and kissed his forehead as Matt got up to change the disc. "Yes, it's over, no more scary ghosts."

He looked up. "I wasn't scared! I was just . . . showing my affection for you."

She hugged him. "Don't cry, okay?"

"I'm not!"

"I liked that one," Kiku said quietly. Herc had rested his head on his shoulder.

I scooted up to sit on Ludwig's lap. Matt put in the disc for the next movie. It was getting kinda late, but we still had time.

"Oh boy, a carnival, that's always a good sign," Al said as the movie started. "Hey, speaking of carnivals, why didn't anyone bring _It_?"

"First of all," Artie said, " _It_ was never made into a movie. Second, I didn't know you'd read the book. Third, shut up, the movie's on."

"Look, I haven't read the book, but I know there's a creepy-ass clown and I just assumed since it's so well-known it must've had a movie—"

"Shut up," Lovi hissed. Al stuck out his tongue and turned back to the TV.

The carnival turned out to be run by an evil guy who wanted to take everyone's souls by giving them what they really wanted.

"So who here would actually sell their soul for something like that?" Toni asked at one point. There was a creepy mirror maze the main characters were trying to get through.

Everyone said no, shushed him, and turned back to the TV.

The creepy guy was defeated at the end and everyone got their souls back. The movie had been pretty scary, so I only heard the last parts while I was hiding my face in Ludwig's chest.

"That movie was from a book, wasn't it?" Kiku asked.

"Yes, a novel by Ray Bradbury," Artie said as Matt went to take out the disc.

"That was scary," Al whispered.

"I've heard of it," Kiku explained. "The book."

"It's very good," Artie said. "The movie's a decent adaptation. I would've liked to read the book aloud to everyone instead of watching the movie, but—"

"Okay, everyone shut up, _Nightmare Christmas_ time!" Al yelled.

"'Shut up' means you, too," Lovi hissed. I noticed that Matt glanced at him as he put the disc in.

"Is this one anything like _Corpse Bride_?" Francis asked, shifting in his seat.

"Not really," Matt said. "It's got the same animation style, and there are the living dead, but the plots are pretty different."

Al started singing along with the opening song. Mei shushed him.

"Oh, Skellington, like skeleton," I said. "I get it."

The movie was about a skeleton guy named Jack who was tired of his job and wanted something different. He lived in Halloween town.

"I always wondered about that," Artie murmured. "The other doors . . . what are Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day towns like? Does everyone get drunk in St. Patrick's Day town?"

"Probably," Al agreed.

Eventually, the Jack guy kidnapped Santa from Christmas town and tried to become Santa, but then he messed up and decided to go back home to save Santa and fix things. At the end, Halloween town got to have Christmas in the winter.

"So they didn't have Christmas before?" I asked. "That's sad."

"I fucking love that movie," Al declared.

"That was good," Francis said. "I still like _Corpse Bride_ more, but . . ."

"Well, still," Al said. Matt got up and put away the disc.

"Geez, it's midnight," he said.

"Oh, I guess we should go home soon," Francis said. He rummaged in his pockets and frowned. "Hm . . ."

"You need a ride home?" Artie asked. "I can ask Dean . . ."

"Yeah, thank you," Francis said gratefully.

I yawned. "I drove myself, so . . ."

"We walked here," Gil said, gesturing to himself, Ludwig, and Mei.

"Antonio, let's get going," Lovi said, standing and stretching. "Guys, thanks for this."

Matt escorted them to the door. I leaned over the banister to listen.

"You guys be careful biking back," he said worriedly. "It's so dark outside, do you think you should catch a ride with someone—?"

"We'll be fine," Lovi muttered. "There are streetlights and stuff."

Toni glanced at him. "Well . . . yeah."

"Lovino—"

Lovi looked at Matt.

"Don't . . ." Matt hesitated. "Don't be afraid to talk to people, okay?"

Lovi pressed his lips together and glanced away. "What? I'm fine. C'mon . . ."

He left and Toni followed after thanking Matt again.

As Matt came back upstairs, I turned to where Artie was finishing calling his brother.

"He's on his way," he said in relief.

"I'm gonna get going," I said, standing and stretching and yawning. "Does anyone need a ride home . . . ?"

"You be careful too," Matt said quietly.

"Yeah, of course!" I said. I glanced at Herc and Kiku. Herc had fallen asleep with his head on Kiku's shoulder.

"Do you guys need a ride home?" I asked.

Kiku shrugged. "I wouldn't want to trouble you . . ."

"It's no trouble, just tell me where to go," I said.

"Very well," Kiku agreed. He shook Herc. "Hercules . . ."

Herc woke up. "What time . . . ?" he mumbled.

"It's past midnight," Kiku said softly.

* * *

After we all thanked Matt and Al (and I said bye to everyone else), we went out to where the car was. Herc and Kiku sat in the back and I got in the driver's seat.

Except for Kiku giving directions, the drive was pretty quiet. Most trick-or-treaters had gone home by this time, though there were still a few kids in costumes.

Finally we reached Kiku's house and I dropped him off after we all said bye. After that, Herc gave me directions to his house (which was pretty close) and I dropped him off there.

I almost got lost, but I found my way home and quietly pulled into the garage. Luckily stepfather already knew what time I was supposed to be home by, so even if he was woken up, he wouldn't have cared that I was coming home at this time.

I slept pretty easy that night, though I kept waking up at random times.


	14. The Cold, the Soup, and the Breakfast

**This chapter and the next two take place late November or early December on the same weekend.**

 **Narrator: Antonio**

* * *

I woke up from my nap feeling pretty refreshed. I took off the blanket, but quickly put it back on—winter was coming soon and it was only gonna get colder.

I noticed Lovi sitting at the table with his head down.

"Lovi?"

I glanced at the clock on the floor. "You want dinner? It's already dark out."

He looked up. "I'm not really hungry . . ."

"At least some crackers," I suggested. I got up, taking off the blanket and shivering. When I passed by the table, going to the cupboard, I paused. He had a bunch of familiar papers with him. He noticed me looking and covered them up.

"I like the sketches," I said encouragingly. "I could never draw like that, y'know?"

I got to the cupboard and looked through it. "How's the story going? And are you sure you don't want soup?"

"I'm sure," he muttered. "I guess crackers're fine."

I got out the crackers and a can of soup for myself. "How's the story going?"

"I can't think of any ideas," he mumbled. "And my drawings fucking suck."

"Are you making a comic?" I asked, setting out the pot and turning on the burner. I opened the crackers and got out a plate, pouring them on.

"No . . ."

"Then that shouldn't be a problem, right? Besides, I think they're cool. The drawings."

"Antonio, I could draw stick figures and you'd say they're cool."

"Exactly, because they'd be the best stick figures around."

I brought him the crackers. "Come on, eat up."

He grunted and started eating. I went back to the stove to finish warming up the soup. I poured myself a bowl when it was done and went to sit at the table with Lovi. He wasn't even halfway done with his food.

"You really aren't hungry, huh?"

"I told you."

"Make sure you have breakfast tomorrow morning," I ordered. I brightened. "Hey, we've been doing well on money recently, haven't we? Maybe we could go out for a breakfast date!"

"I don't really want to go out. It's cold and I'm tired."

"Not right _now_ —"

"I'm gonna be tired tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"It's one of those things I just know, okay? Leave me alone."

I frowned. "Lovi, are you okay?"

"What? I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Can you just . . . leave me alone?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Do you want me to sleep on the couch tonight?"

"No," he said immediately. "It's too cold for that."

I nodded again. "Right. Yeah."

He slowly finished his crackers. I finished my soup and stored the rest of the can in the fridge.

"Mind if I ask some things?" I asked.

"Only if you're okay with it if I don't answer."

"Sure," I agreed. He stayed at the table while I took care of the dishes. "How's free period going? I know you have it with Alfie . . ."

"He just talks at me and I try to tune him out," he muttered. "Everything he says is nonsense anyway."

I nodded. "He's pretty random. How're your other classes?"

He shrugged. "I mean . . . they're pretty boring, but they're alright. I don't have to try too hard for Italian 200."

I nodded again and came back to the table. "Any homework you need to finish before bed?"

He shook his head.

"Then let's go to bed," I suggested. "Maybe if we get a good night's sleep, we'll both be up for breakfast out tomorrow."

He shrugged. "Bed sounds good, dunno about breakfast . . ."

"Oh, it'll be fun, you'll see," I assured him. I smiled and got up. "Let's get ready, okay?"

He nodded but didn't stand for a while more.

* * *

That night was pretty quiet. We kept each other warm, as usual, which was nice. Next morning Lovi decided he didn't want to have breakfast out, so I cooked us both some toast instead.

"You're okay, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, I'm fine."


	15. The Homework, the Plate, and the Concern

**Narrator: Mei**

* * *

I jumped at the knock on the door. "Come in," I called quietly.

Mr. Rainer opened the door. "Dinner's ready, Mei," he announced.

I closed my math book and nodded. "Thank you. I'll be there as soon as I straighten up."

"There's no rush," he said reassuringly, and backed out.

I put away the papers and book and things. I stood, stretched, and headed out. When I got to the table, the food was set out and Ludwig and Mr. Rainer were already there.

"Where is he?" Mr. Rainer muttered.

"He's probably still texting Matthew," Ludwig said, rolling his eyes. "I'll go get him."

"I can do it," I offered quickly.

He shook his head and stood. "No, I'm not sure you can chew him out properly," he joked, and left the room. A minute later I heard yelling, and then Ludwig brought Gilbert into the dining room.

"Don't make me leave him hanging like that," Gil muttered as they sat down.

"Don't text him so close to dinnertime," Ludwig snapped.

"Don't tell me what to do."

I thought about interrupting them, but as I hesitated, Mr. Rainer did it for me.

"Use your mouths for eating instead of talking for a minute," he said sternly. They quietly nodded and started eating.

"Thank you," I said quietly as I started as well. Dinner tonight was stew with steak and a side of small salad.

"Have you all finished your homework?" Mr. Rainer asked, as he did nearly every day.

"Yes, it's all finished," Ludwig replied.

"I'm almost done with math," I murmured. "Sorry, I'll try to finish tonight."

"It's okay, you don't have to rush," Mr. Rainer said kindly. "Gilbert?"

"Yeah?"

"Homework. Have you finished it?"

"Mm . . ." Gilbert scratched the back of his neck. "Well, see, I've always thought 'finished' was kind of subjective, y'know?"

Mr. Rainer and Ludwig rolled their eyes.

"Finish it by Monday," Mr. Rainer muttered.

"Yes, sir," Gilbert said, saluting.

Dinner was finished without much more conversation. When everyone was finished, Gilbert immediately asked to be excused.

"You were late to dinner, you stay here for another minute," Mr. Rainer ordered. Gil rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I'll clean up," Ludwig and I said at the same time. We glanced at each other.

"I'll do it, it's no big deal," I said quickly. He nodded and handed me his empty bowl and plate. I brought them over and put them in the dishwasher, and then came back and took Gil's, and then Mr. Rainer's.

But as I put my bowl away, my hands slipped, and the plate slid away and crashed to the floor, breaking into four clean pieces.

The kitchen went quiet and I turned around with chills down my back to see Mr. Rainer's expression.

He stood and came over to the dishwasher, and I thought I saw him raise his hand, I flinched and covered my head and looked down and closed my eyes—

"Mei . . ."

I slowly opened my eyes and looked up. Mr. Rainer was kneeling in front of me.

"Don't move, okay?" he said gently. "I need to pick these up, and I don't want you cutting your feet."

I flinched. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," he said. "I know you didn't mean to." He smiled. "We probably had too many plates anyway."

I clenched my hands near my chest. He looked at me again. "Are you okay?"

"I should be cleaning it up," I whispered. "I broke it, I was really stupid, I should clean it up—"

"Mei, it's okay," he said. "You can help clean up if you want to."

I quickly knelt down and started picking up the pieces with him. I felt like I was going to cry at any moment, really, but I knew I'd be punished if I cried in front of D—

Dad wasn't here.

"Mei, are you okay?"

I looked up at Mr. Rainer and back at the floor. I had a couple pieces in my hands, and the rest had been picked up already.

"I'm fine," I whispered. He took the pieces from me and threw them away.

"You can go, if you want," he said.

I nodded. "Thank you for dinner," I said quietly, and I hurried away without looking at Ludwig or Gilbert.

* * *

I'd been crying for a while now, but I managed to finish my homework, like I'd always done before.

Mr. Rainer was . . . he was so nice. I'd thought for sure he was going to hit me for breaking the plate . . . but it wasn't even a big deal to him.

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh—come in," I said after quickly drying my eyes.

The door opened and Gilbert looked in.

"Uh . . . hey," he said. "Just thought I should check on you . . ."

"I'm fine," I said quietly.

He stood in the doorway.

"You can come in . . ."

"Okay, sweet," he said. He came in and left the door a crack open. "Hey, so . . . earlier . . ."

"Your dad's okay with it, right?" I said quickly. "He's not—he's not mad?"

"Nah, _Vati_ wouldn't get mad over something like that," he said dismissively. "If you, like, broke two or three plates, then there might be a problem, but it's just one thing, so you're good."

I nodded. He came and sat by me on the bed.

"I mean . . . look, are you doing okay?" he asked. "It's probably stressful, you haven't been here too long, right? And what with your dad . . ."

"I miss him," I admitted.

He stared at me. "I . . . really? Why?"

I looked away. "He's my _dad_ ," I said quietly. My voice was starting to shake again. "He . . . hit me sometimes, but . . ." I shook my head. "Maybe you don't understand . . ."

"I don't think I do," he admitted. "But, like . . . I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I'll go," he said. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, how about . . ." he stood up. "I dunno, this week or next week . . . double date? Me and Mattie, you and Alfie . . ."

I looked up. "Sounds like fun," I admitted. I smiled. "I'll ask Al about it later."

"Awesome," he said. He grinned. "Alright, gotta go finish homework, I _guess_. See you."

He left. I got up and shut the door behind him.


	16. The Nap, the Kiss, and the Red String

**Narrator: Kiku**

* * *

When I got to the playground, I was surprised to see two children next to Hercules. He was lying on the ground. I hurried to them and they looked up.

"'Scuse me," one of them said, "is this man okay? He fell over and he in't moving."

I kneeled by them and looked at Hercules. He was sleeping.

"He's okay," I said. "I'm his boyfriend. He has a disease that makes him fall asleep a lot."

"A disease? Are we gonna catch it now?" the second child cried.

"No, it's not . . . it's not like a fever, or something," I said quickly. "He was born with it. He'll wake up soon. Thank you for checking on him."

" _Boy_ friend?" the first child said. "Are you guys _dating_?"

I nodded.

The children giggled and went back to the playground. I put my arms under Hercules and lifted him up, carefully dragging him to a bench. I put him so he was lying down with his head on my legs.

We had planned to meet here, but . . . he must have thought he could reach the bench before he fell asleep, or he didn't realize he would fall asleep.

I felt the spool in my pocket. It could wait . . . he would wake up soon enough.

* * *

"Hm . . ."

I looked down at Hercules. He was waking up.

"Oh," he said sleepily. He sat up. "Hey, Kiku . . ."

"Hey," I replied. "How are you?"

"Mm . . . I'm fine. Thank you . . ." he stretched and settled next to me. "Sorry, I thought . . . I could make it here . . . before . . ."

"It's okay," I said. I smiled. "You should be careful . . ."

"Yeah."

He sighed. "It's getting colder . . ." he looked at me. "You know . . . it's almost been a year."

"A year?"

"Since . . . we started dating."

I smiled and looked down. "Yes, it has . . ."

"I've loved every minute," he said softly.

"I have, too. Hercules, I . . ."

I hesitated. "Do you know the story of the Red String of Fate?"

He shook his head. "It sounds familiar, but . . ."

"It's an old story," I explained. "It says that two people who are destined to love each other are tied together by a red string on the little finger of their right hands. The string might be twisted and tangled up, but it will never break."

"Oh," he said. "I see . . . that sounds beautiful."

"So, I . . ."

I took out the spool of red thread from my pocket.

"I thought, maybe, we can . . ."

He didn't say anything. He just looked at me, and then at the thread, and then at me again.

"I don't . . . think that's practical," he said at last.

"What?"

"Look . . ." he said calmly. "I love you . . . but I don't think . . . we should tie ourselves together."

I smiled and shook my head. "No, no . . . I wanted to say that we can wear it like a—a ring. On our little fingers."

He smiled, too. "That makes more sense . . ."

I turned the spool over in my hands. "So . . . do you want to . . . ?"

He tapped on my shoulder and I turned to look at him. Suddenly he kissed me on my lips. His hands went to the sides of my head.

Finally he moved back and smiled. "Yes."

I looked down and covered my face. "Hercules, we are in a public place . . ."

"That's okay."

I smiled and took away my hands. "Okay . . ."

I held up the spool and unrolled some thread. I ripped it off and Hercules held out his right little finger. I tied it so it wouldn't fall off, but it wasn't very tight.

"Is that good?"

He nodded. "I'll do yours . . ."

I gave him the spool and held out my right pinky. He ripped off a piece of thread and tied it around my finger like his.

I put the spool back in my pocket and held out my right pinky again. Hercules suddenly curled his right pinky around mine.

"Hey," he said. "We'll keep these on . . . as long as we can . . . promise?"

I nodded slowly. He took away his hand and I leaned forward and hugged him.

" _Aishiteru_ ," I whispered.

"I love you, too . . ."


	17. The Homage, the Paintings, and the Gay

"Okay, good, you're both here," Artie said abruptly when I walked into English.

"What?" Al and I said together.

"Ms. Kim was here earlier," Artie said. "Before she left, she said she'd be back soon, so we'd best hurry."

"Okay, what're we doing?" I asked, setting down my stuff.

"We're going to stand on the desks."

"Oh, okay, sweet," Al said.

All three of us got up on our desks and stood there. Our heads were pretty close to the ceiling.

"So . . . why are we doing this?" I asked.

"Yeah, what he said," Al said.

"Haven't either of you—? Well, I don't know why I'd think you have," he muttered. "Ms. Kim's going to love this, trust me."

"Why?" Al demanded, shifting his weight. "Is this some nerd thing? It's some nerd thing, isn't it?"

Artie hesitated. "Well . . ."

"God, it _is_ some nerd thing."

"Look, don't worry about it."

Ms. Kim came into the room before Al could say anything else. We looked around at her and she noticed us standing on the desks.

Artie cleared his throat. "O Captain! My Captain!" he exclaimed.

Ms. Kim laughed. "Okay, very nice tribute. Now please get off the desks."

"Artie, you still haven't explained what that was," Al muttered as we all got down.

"Morning, Ms. Kim," I said cheerfully.

* * *

At lunch, Gil gestured to Herc and Kiku. "So, uh, what's with the string? You guys getting engaged?"

I noticed some red string around their little fingers.

"We're not . . . engaged yet," Herc said. "It's just . . . like a couples thing."

"It's based on an old story," Kiku added.

"Oh, that's sweet," I said quietly.

"That still kind of seems like an engagement ring . . . but whatever works, I guess," Lovi muttered.

"Yo, Feli, how're the paintings coming along?" Al asked cheerfully.

"Oh, they're good," I said. "I've done yours, Matt's, Artie's, and Herc's now!"

"Wow, mazel tov," Francis exclaimed. "Who're you doing next?"

"Wait, you're Jewish?" Artie asked him in surprise.

"What? Oh, no, I just say that sometimes."

"I dunno who I'm doing next," I admitted. "I was—"

"I know who _I'm_ doing next," Gil declared, patting Matt's shoulder. Matt gave him an embarrassed look.

"We must've been over this before, but can we please keep that stuff in the bedroom?" Al demanded.

"Al," Matt protested, "we're not even . . ."

"Look, your sex lives are none of our business, as non-existent as they may be."

"Let's keep it that way," Ludwig said, giving Gil a pointed look.

"Lighten up, losers, it was a joke," Gil said.

"Feli, you were saying about the paintings?" Mei said.

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "I was gonna say that I was thinking about asking you guys who I should paint next."

"Do Mei," Al said immediately.

Mei looked at him. "Okay, but why?"

"Your beauty deserves to be immortalized in a painting," he declared.

She shook her head and smiled. "You're hopeless . . . Feli, you can do me next if you want to."

"Okay, thanks," I said. I glanced between her and Kiku. "Kiku, can I do yours, too? You guys' skin have almost the same tone, so it'd be easier to do them close together."

"Yes, that's fine," he agreed.

"I can probably finish them before January," I said. "Then . . . I'll work out the others later."

"You can totally finish them all before June," Toni exclaimed. "I believe in you!"

We high-fived.

"Of course you can, you're amazing," Ludwig stated.

Gil rolled his eyes. "Get a room."

"We weren't even—what?"

"You guys are so gay."

Al looked around. "Literally everyone here except me and Mei are gay."

"I mean, we're not all _homosexual_ , but yeah, we're pretty gay," Gil agreed. "Especially Luddie."

"Why me?" Ludwig demanded.

"You know why."

* * *

 **That opening scene is literally the only reason why I put Al, Artie, and Feli in English class together in first period**


	18. The Tree, the Letter, and the Bird Nerd

**Guess I forgot to mention this last time... previous chapter, this one, and the next one are spread out over a week in December before winter break.**

* * *

"Hey, Artie," I said, dropping my backpack by my desk. "Where's Al?"

He sighed. "I don't know. He came in here, threw his backpack to the floor, said he had to do something, and ran out."

"Oh." I sat down. "How long's he been gone?"

"I don't know . . . a couple minutes, maybe."

The door burst open and Al ran in. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Mission fucking accomplished!"

"Morning!" I said. "What were you doing?"

"After you so _rudely_ ran out on me," Artie added.

"Yeah, whatever," Al said. "Feli, I had to go climb a tree."

"Why?"

"I saw this bird on my way here and I had to go back and check," he explained. "But when I got to the top of the tree, it flew off."

"All for a bird?" I asked.

"Feli, you don't _understand_ , it was a super-cool big bird!" Al exclaimed. "It was our destiny to meet! Hell, maybe it had a secret message for me so I could go on a hero quest, or it was gonna finally give me my Hogwarts letter!"

Artie glanced at him. "If it was as big as you say it is, it couldn't possibly have been a wizarding letter. Owls don't get that big."

"Oh, yeah, they _do_ only use owls for that," Al mumbled.

"You know, I don't think I ever read that series," I said slowly.

Al and Artie gaped.

"I'll read it to you," Artie said quickly.

"Or watch the movies," Al added.

"No, don't watch the movies _first_ , you have to read the books beforehand, otherwise the movies make little sense—"

"Yeah, but they're super-good—"

"The sixth was _atrocious_ in terms of staying true to the book—"

"Whatever, man, I like the sixth one—"

"Now listen here—"

The bell rang over their bickering.

* * *

"And I never even got to find out what kind of bird it was," Al finished, telling his story at lunchtime, "so for all we know it could have been a _really big_ owl that _actually_ had a letter for me."

Artie rolled his eyes in response.

"How big exactly?" Gil asked. "Like, wingspan, or height . . ."

Al spread his arms. "It probably could've . . . based on what I saw when it flew away somewhere, I think its wings together could've stretched across my arms . . . maybe a little less." He frowned. "And, uh . . . height . . . I guess if we stood next to each other . . . maybe it would've come up to my knees, or thighs? Hey, speaking of thighs, I had an idea, what if—"

"Did it have, like, a sort of fan-like tail?" Gil asked, making motions with his hands.

Al nodded.

"Curved beak?"

Al nodded again.

"Sounds like maybe—a red-shouldered hawk," Gil said thoughtfully. "Probably too small to be a red-tailed hawk, and we're too far from the ocean for it to be an osprey . . ."

"Okay, cool," Al said. "Guess it wasn't an owl."

"I told you that," Artie muttered, exasperated.

"How do you know so much about birds?" Toni asked curiously.

Gil glanced up. "Fuck—I, well—y'know, you read things, pick up on some stuff—"

"What do you read, bird encyclopedias?" Francis demanded.

"Look, it's just common sense," Gil exclaimed. His ears were pink. "Birds of prey have curved beaks, and the wingspan and height and tail were just other clues—"

"So you _do_ like birds?" Mei said quietly, smiling.

Gil hesitated. "No," he muttered.

"Listen, it's okay to be a bird nerd," Francis said seriously. "We won't change our opinions of you."

"Look, I just happen to have seen a lot of birds in my life, by pure coincidence, random happenstance, and I happen to have learned the names of some of them along the way!" Gil exclaimed.

"You're a bird nerd," Herc said quietly. Gil glared at him.

"It's okay if you're a birdbrain, I still love you," Matt said, hugging his arm.


	19. The Decision, the Chicks, and the Secret

"Okay, so, where're we going this year?" Gil asked at lunch.

"S—"

Artie hit Al in the back of the head. "Again, there's still none of them in the area."

Al frowned. "How'd you know what I was gonna say?"

"Oh, come on, you said it the last two years," Artie exclaimed.

"We could go to Palla's again," I suggested.

"I'm fine with wherever," Lovi muttered.

"Wherever we go, we have to make it count," Matt said. "A lot of us are going off to college next year . . ."

"Who knows if we'll ever see each other again?" Francis cried dramatically.

"Cut it out, dude, it's not like anyone here's dying," Al said. "For real, though, where're we going?"

"I'm fine with Palla's again," Artie said.

After a minute, everyone else agreed that Palla's was good.

"What're we doing after that?" Toni asked. "Bowling? Karaoke?"

"I say karaoke," Al said. "Do you guys know how many people they let up on stage at a time?"

"I think . . . as many as you want, providing they have enough microphones," Artie said. "And as long as everyone up on stage agrees. Why do you ask?"

"I have an idea," Al said. "Y'all cool with group karaoke?"

"No," Lovi muttered.

"Well, you can stay out, I guess," Al said. "Or at least come up on stage and pretend to sing, yeah? Anyway . . ."

He leaned in and explained.

"That's . . ." Gil shrugged. "Y'know what, I'm cool with it. That's pretty awesome, actually."

"Who's got the highest voices here, the ones for the 'Woo' parts?" Al asked. "Mei, Feli, Toni . . ."

"You think I have a high voice?" I asked in surprised. "I never noticed . . ."

"Well, it's not _high_ . . . but it's not exactly deep," Francis said.

"And Ludwig, too," Al finished.

"Excuse me?" Ludwig exclaimed.

"Kidding. Hey, Kiku, you know the song, right?"

Kiku nodded.

"You up for doing the parts that go 'Woo?'"

He nodded again.

"Alright, sweet, we got our girl squad then," Al said. Toni gave him a look. "I'm kidding, dude!"

"Speaking of girls," Gil said, "did you know one time I fell asleep and I woke up covered in chicks?"

Everyone stared at him. Matt, Ludwig, Mei, Herc, and Kiku started laughing.

"I remember that," Ludwig said. "I had to chase them off of you."

"Where exactly did you fall asleep?" Matt asked.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Gil said quickly.

"It kinda does," Francis muttered.

"He fell asleep on a park bench and I found him covered in pigeons, crows, and one weird yellow bird," Ludwig explained.

"Don't insult Gilbird," Gil exclaimed.

"Gilbird?" Artie said. "Excuse me?"

"Well . . ." Gil mumbled. "That little yellow bird, I nicknamed him Gilbird . . . he shows up a lot, so . . ."

"Wow, that's even more egotistical than Francis," Artie exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey," Francis muttered.

"I'm just teasing," Artie murmured.

"He attracts birds," Ludwig said. "Whenever he's outside and there aren't too many people near him, birds fly to him and tend to perch."

"Luddie, what the hell?!" Gil yelled.

"I told you I'd get you back for taking pictures of me sleeping," Ludwig snapped. "And now I have."

Gil put his head on the table.

"I have a picture," Matt said quietly.

"You still have that?" Gil exclaimed, lifting his head.

I laughed. "That sounds really cute!"

"I have a photo, too," Kiku said. "But I promised I wouldn't show it, so . . ."

Al and Francis burst out laughing.

"Talk about a chick magnet," Al exclaimed.

"Maybe you can give some tips on picking up chicks," Francis suggested. Artie hit his shoulder.

"Birdman, birdbrain . . ." Al said. "Bird nerd . . ."

"This is why I didn't tell anyone," Gil muttered. "I told you they'd have a field day . . ."

"A _field_ day?" Al said. "Don't you mean a . . ."

He trailed off and looked thoughtful.

"Never mind, I can't think of anything that works starting with F," he sighed.

"Really quick, does anyone else here have any weird secrets we should get out of the way?" Toni asked. "Gil's a chick magnet, Matt's hair changes his language centers . . ."

"I'm a demi-wizard," Artie offered.

Francis looked at him in surprise.

"I think he means _real_ secrets," Al said.

"Well, not my fault if you don't believe me," Artie said, shrugging. He seemed to be smiling to himself a little.


	20. The Hoodie, the Genders, and the Rainbow

**Annual wintertime outing! The... last one I'll get to write... and _possibly_ the last one for the squad to be all together, with no one missing...**

* * *

I walked from the parking lot to the front of Palla's, where we'd agreed to meet. Ludwig, Gil, Mei, Al, and Matt were already there. Everyone there was wearing a hoodie (except Mei, who had on a jacket). I was wearing a T-shirt. It was a cold night.

"Yo, Feli," Al exclaimed.

"Um, aren't you cold?" Matt asked in surprise.

I shrugged. "A little . . ."

"So why didn't you wear a jacket?" Al asked.

"I couldn't find my jacket," I admitted. I paused. "Oh, I just remembered! It was in the living room on the couch!"

"Good job," Gil said, grinning.

"Here—" Ludwig removed his hoodie, revealing his T-shirt underneath, and handed it off to me. "It might be a bit big, but it'll keep you warm."

"What? Are you sure?" I exclaimed, taking it.

"I don't get cold easily," he said.

"That's not him being tough, he's telling the truth," Gil clarified.

I pulled it on, popping my head through the hole and slipping my arms in.

"Thanks so much!" I exclaimed. I hugged it closer to me. "Oh, it smells like you!"

Ludwig suddenly hugged me tightly. I shrugged and hugged him back.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" he asked.

"I think so . . . but say it again, just in case," I said into his shirt.

"I love you. So much."

Gil and Al glanced at Matt and Mei.

"Are you cold, sweetie?" Al asked.

"Mattie, do you wanna borrow my hoodie?" Gil demanded.

"We've both got long sleeves," Mei pointed out. "But thanks."

"Aw, man," Al muttered.

"I'm sorry, did we walk in on something?" Francis asked as he and Artie came up to us. They both wore matching sweaters.

I glanced over at them. My face was still pressed against Ludwig. "No, why?"

"No reason."

Artie glanced between me and Ludwig and turned to Francis. "Hey, do you, er, want to borrow my sweater? If you're cold, I mean."

Francis looked at him. "We are wearing the same sweater, darling."

Artie looked down. "Oh. Right. Uh . . . never mind."

"If it makes you feel better, Al and Gil just tried the same thing," Matt said.

"Also, I'm not entirely sure you have anything on under that sweater," Gil said. "No offense, Artie, but no one wants to see that."

"I do," Francis protested.

"Yeah, but we're outside," Gil pointed out. "So until Artie gets that job at the strip club, you'll have to deal with him wearing clothes in public places."

"Strip club?!" Artie exclaimed while Al laughed. "Where did _that_ come from?!"

"I think strip clubs started in the US around World War II," Gil explained, "and later they—"

"I didn't mean it that way, you twat!"

"Why do you know that?" Matt asked Gil quietly.

Gil winked.

"I'm _not_ planning on working at a strip club," Artie exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, you want to be a cop, don't you?" Francis said.

"Eventually," Artie agreed.

"Are you gonna use your _magic_ to help?" Al asked, grinning.

"I don't know," Artie admitted. "I'll probably have my wand with me just in case, but as long as I've had proper training, hopefully I won't need it."

"Mm-hm, yeah," Gil said, nodding. "Did you bring your _magic wand_ tonight?"

"No," Artie said. "I figured I wouldn't need it tonight, so it's at home. Dean's keeping an eye on it."

"You're really into role-playing, huh?" Mei asked, smiling.

Artie shrugged. "Not really, no."

"Ah, and that's part of the pretend game," Al said, nodding.

Artie glared at him. "Next person who says magic isn't real will find themselves stuck on a rooftop with no way down," he threatened.

"Been there, done that," Gil announced.

Francis glanced at Artie. "You can do that?"

"Well, yes," Artie said. "Depending on how I go about it, the individual in question might lose a chunk of their body, but it's certainly possible."

"Excuse me?!" Francis exclaimed. "How could you mess up _that_ much?!"

"It's not an easy spell to do," Artie explained. "Teleportation and the like always comes with risks like that."

"Francis, don't play along with him," Ludwig said, rolling his eyes.

I looked up at him. "He's not telling the truth?"

"Feli, I hate to break it to you, but magic isn't real," Ludwig said exasperatedly.

"Okay, that's it, I warned you," Artie snapped. "You are so lucky I don't have my wand with me. You have until we get back to school to apologize."

"Did we . . . miss something?" Herc asked. He and Kiku had just arrived.

"I could pick you up and throw you across the street right now," Ludwig threatened, ignoring Herc. "You want to try me?"

"Hey, don't hurt him," I exclaimed, still holding onto his torso.

"Okay," he said quickly.

"Hi, Herc, Kiku," Matt said quietly.

"Ludwig, just apologize," Francis said. "He really will try to stick you on a roof somewhere."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Alright. Sorry."

Artie nodded.

"Are Lovino- _kun_ and Antonio- _kun_ late?" Kiku asked, looking around.

"I guess so," Mei said. "They didn't say they wouldn't be here, so . . ."

"There they are," Gil exclaimed, looking down the street. "Yo!"

Lovi and Toni finally joined up with us. "Hey," Toni said cheerfully. "Lovi didn't want to leave, so it took a while to make him."

Lovi made a face. "Yeah, well . . . you said you'd be sad if I didn't come, so . . ."

"Can we just go inside?" Al demanded. "We've been standing around long enough."

* * *

Not long after we'd finished ordering our drinks, Al suddenly turned to Mei and said, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask—do you only like guys, or guys and girls, or . . ."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking that _now_?"

"For real, I need to know."

"I think I'm bi," she said. "Why?"

"Oh, thank god," he exclaimed. "See, I was really worried lately, 'cause like, what if I woke up and I was a girl one morning, and if you only liked guys you wouldn't like me anymore, and come to think of it would I still like you if I was a girl? Like how does that whole thing work, I know there's some mental stuff to it but there's physical stuff too, right? So I kinda have to wonder if one of us changed genders, I mean physically, but not the other one, would we even like each other anymore or—?"

"Why the hell are you worried about that?" Gil exclaimed. "That's never going to happen!"

"But _just in case_ —"

"I'd love you no matter what you looked like," Mei said. "Even if I was only into guys."

Al grinned. "Oh, awesome! Same to you, babe, it'd be weird but we'd make it work."

"How would that even happen?" Toni wondered.

Francis glanced at Artie. "Could you do something like . . . ?"

"I think that would require some kind of potion," Artie said. "Like I've said before, I'm not good at making potions at all."

"Would you have to keep giving the potion to the person?" Francis asked.

"I think so, yes, depending on the strength."

Our drinks came and we all ordered food.

"Dude, what if we just all woke up one day like that?" Al said, sipping his drink while staring at a wall. "Like, all our bodies changed like that?"

"That would be really weird, but I wouldn't mind," I said.

"If I had a female body, I'd finally get to rock those cute shorts that the girl gym outfit has," Gil said. "So yeah, that'd be awesome. Plus, I'd get to see Mattie in those shorts."

Matt coughed into his drink. "Gil!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

"I'd find a way to change us all back, unless it was my fault in the first place," Artie said.

"I'm sure you could, but I wouldn't mind too much if you couldn't," Francis said.

"It would be incredibly awkward at school," Ludwig pointed out.

"I'd probably just hide until my body changed back," Lovi muttered.

"I'll keep you company," Toni offered.

"I think I'd try pouring hot water on myself," Kiku said.

"I'd do the same . . ." Herc said. "But if that didn't work . . . I think I'd just . . . go with it."

"I think I'd be cool with it," Al said cheerfully. "As long as you don't mind, sweetie."

"Not at all," Mei said. "As for me having a guy's body . . . I don't know. I guess it'd be interesting."

"Well, that's that, we're all . . . _surprisingly_ okay with this scenario," Al said.

Our food came pretty soon after that.

"I'm really gonna miss this next year," I said, starting on my food.

"Hey, we _might_ be able to make it work," Gil said, shrugging.

"Well, who knows who's gonna be here and who's not," Lovi said, taking a bite of his pasta.

"I think we had this conversation already," Artie muttered.

"So, Gil, picked up any cute chicks recently?" Al asked cheerfully.

"I swear to fucking god," Gil muttered. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

"Like . . . forever," Al said. "Why?"

"Anyway, no, there aren't many birds out in wintertime and stuff," Gil explained. "So they don't come to perch as often."

"Bird nerd," Francis whispered. Gil glared at him.

"Hey, Mattie, you have a pic, right?" Al said. "Can you show it?"

"Gil, can I?" Matt asked.

"Fine, just get it over with," Gil said, throwing his arms up in resignation.

Matt took out his phone, brought up the picture, and passed it around.

"Holy _shit_ , is that a hawk?" Al exclaimed.

"Yes," Gil muttered.

"Gil, you don't happen to know if you're a demi-wizard, do you?" Artie asked, passing it along.

"What?" Gil said. "Are you still on that? I don't even know what that is."

"Well, you see," Artie explained (the phone got passed to me—Gil looked really annoyed in the picture, and a bunch of birds covered his arms and a hawk was on his head), "a wizard or witch, depending on your preferred term, is someone who can use magic and see magical creatures with no aid. A demi-wizard needs aid to perform magic and see magical creatures."

"Uh-huh," Gil said slowly as I passed the phone along. "And if I was a demi-wiz or whatever, how would I ever know without receiving the aid?"

"You'd know by your birth parents," Artie said. He gave Gil an odd look. "Er . . . in your case, I could ask my friends to check you over, they might be able to tell . . . I could also try performing a spell to see if you have the potential to use magic, but—"

"Yeah, not interested," Gil said as Matt finally got his phone back. "So you all done ogling my glorious self covered in cute chicks?"

"Uh-huh," Mei said. "With that attitude, those chicks are the only ones who'll ever have any interest in you."

"Hey!" Gil exclaimed as we all laughed. "I'll have you know there have been _numerous_ cute chicks of the human variety who've shown interest in me!"

Ludwig glanced at him. "No, they didn't. That was you trying to talk them up. From what I remember, you came across as a jerk and ended up with soda on your shirt."

"It was not soda, it was water," Gil snapped.

"Does it make a difference?"

"Either way, the only one who will ever love you is Matthew," Francis concluded.

"Yeah, and you know what?! I'm fine with that, because Mattie is the fucking _best_ and none of you better say otherwise!" Gil exclaimed.

"I say otherwise," Matt said. " _You're_ the best."

"Can you guys not get all gay right now?" Al said. "I'm trying to eat."

His plate was empty.

"I live with you," Matt pointed out. "And Gil comes over a lot."

"If you ask us to suppress our pure rainbow gayness, I'm gonna have to ask you to suppress your heterosexuality," Gil said firmly.

"Nah, if we're talking rainbow gayness, Feli and Ludwig take the gay cake," Al said.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Ludwig, we won!"

He grimaced. "I guess it's something to be proud of . . . ?"

"I'll . . . plan the wedding," Herc offered quietly.


	21. The Best Idea, the Song, and the Depart

**Shoutout to Loofah and Inno for the karaoke idea in this one!**

 **Also - last week, I got a rather nasty review from a flamer (which hopefully has been or will be taken down). Even after I realized the person was a troll, it still made me feel kinda sick and worried.  
But not even six hours after, I got two anon reviews reassuring me that the guy was going around flaming Hetalia stories, and the second anon said that this story updating makes them look forward to Mondays. Those reviews made my day, so thank you very much, anons, I love you and I'm glad you like the story (hearts)**

* * *

Dinner was over before I knew it. We gathered outside in front of the restaurant.

"Man, that was great," Al sighed. "Karaoke time, yeah?"

"Hell yeah, this is gonna be awesome," Gil said, pumping his fist in the air. "This is probably your best idea ever."

" _One_ of the best," Al corrected.

"No, it's the best. You really haven't had any other good ideas."

"I'd say going out with me was a good idea," Mei said.

Gil paused. "Uh . . . hm. Well, that's your business, but point taken."

"Yeah, take that, you don't argue with my girlfriend!" Al exclaimed.

Mei glanced at him. "If I'm wrong, I'd rather be argued with."

"You're never wrong."

She rolled her eyes.

"Can we get going already?" Artie said. "I'm freezing here—Ludwig, how do you stand this cold without your sweater?"

"My love keeps him warm," I announced, hugging him.

"Oh my god," Lovi muttered.

"Lovi, are you cold?" Toni asked. "Maybe my love can warm you up!"

"I'm fine! Get away!"

* * *

We got inside and ordered drinks. Al ran up to the front to sign us up, but came back pretty quick.

"So, uh, bad news," he announced. "They only let ten people up at a time, and the dude by the clipboard said even that was pushing it. So we can skip doing this or two of us can stay behind."

"I'll stay behind," Lovi said. "I don't really like being up on stage . . ."

"No one does, but it can be pretty fun when you're singing," Al said cheerfully. "But okay, your choice, I guess. So, uh . . . one more person, I guess?"

"I can stay, too," Toni offered. "Lovi, I'll keep you company!"

Lovi shook his head. "No, you go. You were talking all evening about doing this. I know you're looking forward to it."

"Then I'll do it," Artie offered. "I don't think I'm a very good singer."

Francis frowned at him. "I think you're good. I liked singing that song with you on the magic carpet."

Gil choked on his drink. "Was that an innuendo?!"

Artie glared at him. "It was not! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Ignoring . . . _that_ for a minute," Matt said. "Francis, don't make him go if he doesn't want to."

"Fine," Francis muttered. "You two stay here and guard the table."

"We'll sing together later," Artie promised.

Toni turned to Lovi. "Lovi, you and me can—"

"Nah."

"Okay, then we can put on a record and—"

"Nah."

"I'll go sign everyone up," Al said, jumping up and running to the clipboard again. He came back soon. "We're up in like twenty minutes!"

* * *

The guy by the clipboard called out, "Next up . . . 'A bunch of losers, except for me and Mei.'"

"Wow, thanks," Francis said sarcastically as we all stood.

"I speak only the truth," Al declared.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," I said, holding Ludwig's hand.

We all got up on stage. I realized the lights were a little bit dimmer than last year.

"Do you think I should have worn a dress for this?" I whispered to Ludwig as the guy gave everyone microphones.

"I'd love to see you in one, but it's too cold for that," he whispered back.

"I'll wear one another time!"

"HEY!" Al yelled to everyone not on the stage. "How we all doing tonight?! Good?! Shoutout to my boys Lovino and Artie! Yeah, you guys over there! Hang in there!"

I squinted to see our table. Lovi had his head down and Artie was making a face.

"Al, stop it before Arthur disowns you as family," Francis whispered.

"What? Okay, whatever. START THE MUSIC!"

The music finally started and everyone got ready.

" _This hit, that ice cold (. . .) White gold . . ._ "

We all knew the lyrics pretty well, though the words on the TV screen helped. Kiku seemed to be concentrating on them.

" _I'm too hot! (Hot damn!) Make a dragon wanna retire, man!"_

Al was probably the loudest of us all, but once Matt nudged him, he quieted down, just a little bit.

" _Girls, hit your hallelujah (Woo!), girls, hit your hallelujah (Woo!)_ "

Gil started dancing in time to the music while he sang. It was actually pretty funny.

" _Saturday night, and we in the spot—don't believe me, just watch!_ "

* * *

We were all out of breath by the time the song finished.

"Golly, that was fun!" Al exclaimed. He was the only one who wasn't winded.

"Yeah," Francis said, giving a thumbs-up.

We got back to the table and sat down with Lovi and Artie.

"You guys had fun," Artie remarked.

"It was . . . really fun," Mei agreed, smiling. Her voice had been kinda covered up by Al's. I wonder if he'd done it on purpose.

Toni hugged Lovi. "Join us next time!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Lovi muttered, though he didn't pull away.

* * *

"See y'all at school," Al said cheerfully as he and Matt got into their car. "Love you, Mei!"

"Love you, too," she called.

As the car drove away, Gil turned to Mei. "Isn't he smothering?"

She shrugged. "I think it's sweet, but . . . he does back off right away if I tell him I need space."

"Oh, that's good," Gil said. "Otherwise I'd punch him. I ain't letting anyone mess with my little sister."

"Oh, my god," she said, smiling.

"What?"

"Nothing . . ."

"We're gonna get going," Toni said cheerfully. "Guys, thanks so much! Lovi, come on!"

"Yeah," Lovi said. "G'night, thanks."

They went off to where their bikes were. We watched them ride off.

"I kinda worry about them sometimes," Francis admitted. "Riding back to their place in the dark . . ."

"They can take care of themselves, I'm sure," Artie said. "It's not the first time they've done this."

"Yeah, they'll be fine," I agreed. "I'm just glad they have shelter to go back to!"

Ludwig glanced at me. "What was it like . . . ? When he ran away from home?"

I looked down. "He . . . I was really worried about him, and I cried a lot at first. I didn't know where he was for years, and Eliza was super-worried too . . . I was so happy when I found out he was okay, and he was safe and all."

"I can imagine how you feel," Gil said. "I mean, Luddie probably wouldn't run away from home, but _man_ would I worry about him if he did. Luddie, I know you can take care of yourself, probably, but still. A big brother's got to look out for his little brother, you know."

"You're the one who needs looking after, you delinquent," Ludwig said sternly.

Gil grinned. "Nah, I'm good."

"Are you?" Mei said quietly.

"Hey," Artie said as a car rolled up. "Francis, let's go."

"I'm getting a ride back," Francis explained. "See you guys at school."

We said bye to them as they went off.

"I guess . . . we should get going, too," Herc said to Kiku. "We'll use my phone flashlight . . ."

"You guys walked?" I said.

"Yes," Kiku said. "Our houses aren't far. We'll see you at school—goodnight!"

They set off down the street.

"Oh, Eliza's here," I said happily as our car came down the street past Herc and Kiku. "Bye, guys! See you later!"

Ludwig kissed me goodnight and, as I got into the car, I heard Gil said, "Fuck, I should've kissed Mattie goodnight."

Mei said something to him as I shut the door.

* * *

 **The song they sang was Uptown Funk! I couldn't include many lines due to copyright. If y'all think even what I put might violate the copyright rules of this site, please let me know ASAP and I'll adjust it.**


	22. The Grave, the Talk, and the Dance

**Winter break, early January**

 **Narrator: Lovino**

* * *

"Lovi?"

Oh, god. I looked over to Toni and saw him watching me.

"Aren't you going to get up?"

I adjusted the blanket comforter. "Nah."

"Lovi, you can't keep doing this," he said sternly. I tried to tune him out, but I'd never been good at doing that kind of thing.

"I'm tired and it's Sunday," I muttered. "No work, no school, let me sleep."

"No way," he said. "You need to eat something."

"Not hungry."

"Lovi—"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

I turned over. "I'm tired."

"Lovi, listen . . ." he said, sitting on the bed. "I know we don't have work today, but the boss said he might fire you if you don't pick up the pace." He paused. "Well, he said something like that."

"That's fine," I muttered. "He doesn't really need me there."

"But _we_ need the money! Lovi, if you—"

I pushed myself up and moved around him to get out of bed at last. The clock on the floor said noon.

"There, I'm up," I said. "You happy?"

"Good," he said. "Now can you have some breakfast or something?"

I ignored him and went to the dresser, pulling on a big T-shirt and scratchy jeans. "I'm going out."

"What? Where're you going?" he said, surprised.

"Away from you!"

I stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind me. I got to the stairs and hurried down and out of the building. And then—well, I just started walking. I didn't really have anywhere in particular to go.

* * *

I stopped in front of those wrought-iron gates (classic design for that place). As long as I was here . . .

I crossed the street and entered the cemetery. It was so cold outside today . . . I was regretting wearing this T-shirt. The frost covering the ground crunched under my feet as I walked. Where was it? It had to be around here, I couldn't be remembering this wrong . . .

I saw it and stopped.

There it was.

I sat down—well, it was more like falling into a sit—and read over the inscription again.

 _R.I.P._  
 _Regulus Vargas  
19XX - 20XX  
Beloved grandfather and friend_

I brought my knees to my chest.

"Hey, _nonno_. . ."

 _R.I.P._

"You always seemed so happy all the time."

 _Regulus Vargas_

"Was it real? Or were you just hiding something?"

 _19XX - 20XX_

"You were happy, right?"

 _Beloved grandfather and friend_

"You were happy with us, right?"

I hugged my knees, trying to keep warm.

"I was happy with you. You and _fratello_."

"Lovi?"

I jumped and looked around. He was there—must've just shown up.

"Hi, _fratello_ ," Feliciano said, coming up and sitting next to me. He was holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums, and he placed them in front of the grave. "You wanted to visit _nonno_ , too?"

"I just . . ."

He glanced at me.

"I just . . . kinda ended up here," I muttered.

"Oh."

"You miss _nonno_ , right?"

He looked at me again. "Of course I do," he said. "Don't you?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I miss him. I miss—I miss living with him, and you, and—"

I stopped myself and looked away from him.

"Lovi, aren't you cold?" he said suddenly. "You're shivering so much! And in that shirt . . ."

I hadn't really noticed I'd been shivering, but now I couldn't ignore it. I still didn't say anything.

"Lovi, let's go back to your place."

I shifted where I sat. Feliciano stood up next to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up.

"Come on."

He kept holding my hand like I was a kid, and I just kind of . . . let him lead me. He must've had a better sense of direction than I'd thought, because before I knew it we were back in front of the building.

* * *

Toni opened the door at the first knock and immediately smiled.

"Oh, thank _god_ ," he exclaimed. "Lovi, don't run off like that, I was so worried—you have to at least tell me where you're going first, okay? Get in here—Feli, hi, thanks for bringing him back—"

They both pulled me inside. It was still chilly, but a bit better than outside.

"Lovi," Toni said, "hey, come on, let's sit. Feli, you too."

We all sat on the old couch.

"Lovi, do you want to talk?"

I clenched my fingers between each other, trying to warm up my hands.

"Lovi?" Feliciano said. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno," I whispered. "I dunno, nothing feels right . . . I . . ."

Oh, good, now I was crying in front of them!

"Toni," I said, trying to hide that I was crying and probably failing, "I'm sorry for what I—said earlier—"

"Lovi, it's okay—"

"No, it's not—!"

"Lovi?" Feliciano said from my left. "It's okay to . . . to feel bad, and . . . to talk about it. I once heard that . . . not talking about the bad stuff isn't good for you."

"Okay," I whispered. "Okay. I—"

I paused.

"I miss _nonno_ so much. Feli, I miss living with you and Eliza, and now I can't even visit you because of that asshole. I dunno what the future's gonna be like. I dunno if anyone would miss me if I was gone."

And I kept crying. This was stupid, I hated crying in front of people, I'd always hated it.

"Lovi?"

I felt Toni's arms come around me. I just let him hug me.

"Lovi, I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"I should've paid more attention to you."

"It's fine."

I'd almost forgotten Feliciano was there, but then he hugged me, too.

"I miss you, too," he said quietly, and _he_ sounded close to crying. "Eliza does, and neither of us like that stepfather did that, we'd both love it if you could live with us again, I'm so sorry you can't—"

It was so warm now with both of them near me.

* * *

We spent a while longer together in the apartment. It was hard at first, but I started talking more about things that were bothering me, even the little things that were stupid and shouldn't have bothered me in the first place. They were good listeners and never interrupted on purpose.

I felt a lot better by the time I was finished. The sun was low in the sky now. Feliciano had to go, and we awkwardly hugged goodbye at the door.

"Lovi?"

I looked back at Toni.

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing was your fault," I said quietly. "I shouldn't let that kind of stuff get me down so much."

"I'm sure it isn't your fault," he said, smiling. "Let's do something you like, okay? If you're up for it."

I nodded slowly. "Okay."

"What do you want to do?"

I gestured to the record player.

"Want to dance?"

* * *

Toni had put on a slow song, so our dance was slow, too. The familiar movements were very comforting.

"This is nice."

"Yeah. Are you feeling better?"

"A bit."

He kissed my forehead. "I'm glad."

* * *

 **Real talk - if you know someone who's depressed, listen to them when you can. Do something nice for them; even little things can help. Be supportive!**

 **If _you're_ depressed, don't be afraid to talk to someone you can confide in. Hell, you can even talk to me if it's not too weird. Don't push yourself, and do things you like when you have the time/energy. **

**Lovi and Mattie both live with depression. Mattie deals with it a little better since opening up to Gil, and with a little time, I'm sure Lovi will do the same.**


	23. The Texts, the Visit, and the Hot Cocoa

**I feel like I should warn you guys... this story's going to end with fewer chapters than the last two. I can't say for sure how many chapters it'll have, but it'll definitely be at least 30 or 35.**

 **Speaking of which, I've had the ending of this story planned since even before the first story ended... I tend to plan ahead with fics.**

 **Narrator: Gilbert**

* * *

Luddie was studying for a test, and Mei was in her room, finishing up homework, or something. So I was bored. Maybe Mattie was up for something?

I pulled out my phone and texted, _Yo you wanna go out?_

It was a few minutes before I got a response.

 _Not today, sorry_

Hm . . .

 _What up? u sick?_

 _Don't feel like getting up is all_

 _Mattie it is 2_

 _I know_

 _Can i come over? I won't be loud i promise_

I waited a minute.

 _Sure_

 _Sweet, be there soon, love u_

I got up and grabbed my jacket. I went to Mei's room and knocked on the door. After she said, "Come in," I opened up to find her still doing homework.

"Hey, I'm going over to Mattie's place," I said. "You wanna come and hang out with Alfie?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to nap after I finish this," she explained. "But tell him I said hi."

"Right, got it, have fun," I said, backing out. I shut the door and headed downstairs. I yelled to _Vati_ where I was going and headed out the door quickly just in case he was going to say "No."

It was pretty cold out, so the walk to Mattie's house took a little longer than I'd thought it would. A few sparrows landed on my shoulders, but they'd flown off by the time I reached the place. I knocked on the door.

It opened in about five seconds and I saw Alfie there. He looked at me for a moment before shutting the door.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, knocking again.

He opened the door again, grinning. "Just kidding. What's up?"

"Just came to hang out with Mattie," I said.

"Oh, cool," he said, stepping aside. As I came in and kicked off my shoes, he said, "He hasn't actually left his bed today, by the way. He's fine and all, he just does that sometimes."

I nodded, taking off my jacket. "Can I use your kitchen? I'll make us something."

"Sure, but make something for me, too. How's Mei, by the way?"

"She's fine," I said, heading to the kitchen with him on my heels. "I asked if she wanted to tag along, but she said she was tired."

"Better that she rest, then," Alfie said firmly.

"Your parents out again?" I asked, looking around the cupboard. "Hey, do you have hot chocolate mix or something?"

"Yeah, bottom shelf," he said. "And yeah, they're doing a thing, or something. I've stopped trying to keep track of wherever they go."

" _Gott_ , no offense, but are they _ever_ home?" I muttered, grabbing three packets of mix from the box and heading over to take out a few mugs.

"Good question," Alfie admitted. "I mean, they were here yesterday, but they left real early this morning with a note on their bed." He shrugged. "Whatever, right? As long as we've got a roof and food, it's fine."

"You don't miss them?"

He shrugged again as I poured hot water into the mugs with the mix. "Dunno. It doesn't really matter."

I shrugged in return, handing him his mug. "To each his own. I'll be with Mattie, you do you."

"Yeah, thanks," he said cheerfully, trying to take a sip and coughing when it was too hot. I snickered and headed down the hall with the other two mugs.

"Yo!" I called, knocking on the door with my elbow. "Mattie, I'm coming in!"

"Okay . . ."

I opened the door with my foot and came in. Mattie was sitting up in bed and putting on his glasses—he was still in boxers.

"Wow, you really haven't gotten up today," I said, nudging the door shut with my hip. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," he murmured. "I just didn't feel like getting up today."

"You eaten anything?"

"Al brought me some toast." He gestured to the crumb-covered plate on the dresser.

"Well, I brought us some hot chocolate," I said. "I mean, it's the mix kind, so it's not gonna be _great_ , but y'know."

He smiled as I handed him his mug. "Thanks . . ."

"Think I should have added marshmallows?"

"No, it's okay." He blew on his drink as I sat by his bed.

"You wanna talk about anything?" I asked, cautiously sipping my drink. No, still too hot, damn it . . .

He shook his head. "Sorry . . ."

"Wanna just stay like this?"

"Are you . . . okay with that?"

I shrugged. "Hey, I'm being graced by your presence, what more could I ask for?"

He smiled. "If you say so . . ."

It really was nice, just being there, even though neither of us was saying anything. I sat by his bed, he stayed under the covers . . . the room was nice and warm.

Eventually, we both finished our drinks. The cups went on the floor next to the dresser.

I leaned against the bed. "I love you."

"Love you, too," he said softly, and I felt him ruffle my hair.


	24. The Cards, the Family, and the Words

**There are actually a lot of things about the characters, their families, etc. that I know in my head, but there's not a good point in the story to bring it up/talk about it without it sounding forced. So if you have any questions, any questions at all about anything, ask away and I'll be happy to answer unless it spoils something in the story and/or is going to come up later.**

 **Narrator: Hercules**

* * *

There wasn't much to do today. No school, and it was too cold outside for the cats to come visit . . . Kiku's grandparents were apparently coming to visit him, so a date was out of the question until they returned to Japan. I glanced at the red string around my little finger.

Mother was out grocery shopping, so I figured I could play solitaire until she got back (it would be time for dinner by then). I got off the couch and rummaged through the drawers of the bureau, looking for the deck of cards.

Finally, I found them and brought them to the kitchen table. I kept my phone near me, just in case.

I'd just finished setting up for a game of clock solitaire when my phone buzzed. I glanced at it and saw that Kiku had sent a text. I quickly opened up messages and checked.

 _Please help_

I texted back: _What's wrong?_

 _My grandparents are_

There was a pause. I frowned.

 _What is the word for someone who hates gay people?_

Oh.

 _You mean "homophobe"?_

 _Yes thank you. My grandparents are being homophobes._

I'd been lucky enough to never meet anyone homophobic face-to-face, but then again . . . this area was generally liberal, and the most Kiku and I usually did in public was hold hands. In any case, it wasn't like I advertised my orientation.

I blinked and glanced down at my phone again. I texted him back.

 _Are you in trouble?_

Another pause.

 _No. My mother and I haven't mentioned you. I will have to pretend to like girls._

 _Oh geez... how do you want me to help?_

Pause.

 _I was about to say "I can tell them I have a date with you" but there are problems with that -_-_

I laughed at this.

 _Hang on won't you get in trouble for texting?_

 _My phone is under the table so it is okay_

 _Maybe you can say you forgot you were meeting a friend  
For winter break homework _

_YES THAT IS A GOOD IDEA  
I didn't mean to be Alfred I'm sorry _

_Haha I'm at home come over when you want_

* * *

"Thank you so much," Kiku said as he came in. I shut the door behind him as he removed his shoes. "I don't like my grandparents a lot, I'm sorry to say it . . ."

"I understand," I said. "When . . . are they going back . . . ?"

"Second of January," he replied. "Until then . . . they're staying at my house."

"You can . . . come visit anytime," I offered as we went to the living room. "Just . . . text first."

"Thank you so much," he said again. We sat on the couch.

"If it's okay . . . what are your grandparents like?" he asked.

I hesitated.

"Well . . ." I said slowly. "I . . . don't remember them. They're not . . . _dead_ . . . but the last time I saw them . . . was when I was very small." I shook my head. "I don't know . . . about their opinions of . . . things like that. And honestly . . . I don't really care."

He nodded. "It's very uncomfortable when they say things like . . ." he paused. "'Being gay is wrong,' or 'A man can't love another man.'" He sighed. "But I have to . . ."

"Put up with it?"

He nodded.

"Well . . . this is a free house," I said, putting my arm around his shoulders. "You can . . . speak your mind here . . . with no consequences."

He smiled. "That's good to hear."

"You can stay . . . until Mother gets back," I said, resting my head on his. "So . . . is there anything you want to say . . . before you go?"

"I have some words," he admitted, leaning in.

"Mm?"

"I love you."

"That's good . . . to hear."

He touched his right hand to mine so the strings crossed.


	25. The Puns, the Snow, and the Wheelbarrow

**To clarify for this chap and the next ones: This chap is on Mon. Feb. 9. Chap 26 will be on Feb 11, and the three after that will be 12, 13, and 14.**

* * *

"DUDE!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. Al, Artie, and I were in English, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Guess what's gonna happen this Saturday?!" Al yelled, grinning.

"We're not gonna have school!" I guessed.

Al stared at me. "Oh. Uh, well, that too, but—no, this is something _cooler_!"

He grinned expectantly.

"Um . . . is it someone's birthday?"

"Nope, something even _ice_ -r," he said, still grinning. Artie muttered something under his breath and got a book out of his backpack to read.

"Hm . . . oh!" I exclaimed. "It's Valentine's Day!"

Al looked to the side thoughtfully. His eyes suddenly widened. "Holy _shit_ , you're right! I totally forgot!"

"Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Valentine's Day was on a Thursday the past two years," Artie said, not looking up, "which didn't make any sense in the first place, and now it makes even _less_ sense that it's on a Saturday _this_ year?"

"Yes," Al and I said together.

"Right, just checking. I've come to realize all of you are hopeless."

"You're the one who's a magic nerd," Al muttered.

Artie looked up and grinned. "Yes, I am," he said, sounding a bit pleased.

"Whatever. Anyway, Feli, you're right about V-Day, but that wasn't what I was thinking of," Al said, turning back to me. "Don't worry, we can _chill_ here until you get it."

I frowned. "Um . . . hm . . . I can do this . . ."

"It'll be an _ice_ time . . ."

"That's the second time you used 'ice' in those inane puns," Artie said, looking back down at his book.

"Shut up, dude, that's _cold!_ " Al exclaimed.

"I give up," I declared.

"Man, really?" Al said, sounding disappointed. "Well, okay. They said it's gonna snow on Saturday!"

"Oh!" I exclaimed. I thought for a moment. "Oh, that's why you were making puns about the cold!"

"Hell yeah I was!"

"So . . . is there something special about the snow?" I asked. "I mean . . . it's cool, but . . ."

Al grinned. "It is _cool_ , yeah. I'm just excited 'cause I got an idea. What if we have—"

* * *

"—a snowball fight?" Francis said in surprise.

"Hell yeah," Al said determinedly. "And just for the record, I totally didn't think of this part only after Feli mentioned V-Day, but it can be a big V-Day thing with all of us, yeah? I mean, since it's on a Saturday, so we can't meet up at lunch or anything like usual, but like we can totally have a snowball fight!"

"I already agreed," Artie said.

"So did I!" I said.

"If this is a Valentine's Day thing . . . we should team up with our significant other, shouldn't we?" Francis said. "So . . . as much as I'd rather not mess up my hair, I'll be teaming up with Arthur."

"Hush, you can take a shower afterwards," Artie muttered. "Oh—I mean, uh—your hair looks good no matter what!"

"Too little, too late, but I appreciate it, darling," Francis said, smirking.

"Feli, we'll team up, too," Ludwig said quickly.

"Yes! We can win! Or surrender!" I agreed.

"We're . . . not surrendering."

"It sounds like fun," Mei admitted, "but I've never been in a snowball fight before."

Al gasped dramatically. "You poor thing! Don't you worry, this is gonna be fun, and it's real simple! We just gotta chuck snowballs at each other!"

"If you . . . say so."

"Well, me n' Mattie are gonna be unbeatable," Gil declared, throwing his arm around Matt's shoulders. "Ain't that right?"

"No, 'cause me and Lovi are gonna win, right, Lovi?" Toni said cheerfully. He glanced at Lovi. "I mean, if you wanna do this."

"I guess," Lovi said, shrugging. "Anyone care if I bail early? I mean, I'll do it anyway, so . . ."

"Whatever you want, dude, but you're missing out," Al said.

"Hercules, we will win," Kiku said, a determined gleam in his eyes.

"Wow, someone got intense fast," Al remarked.

"If . . . you say so," Herc said, shrugging.

"Question," Ludwig said. "How do we determine who wins?"

Al looked thoughtful. "Good question . . . y'know, maybe we could just chuck snowballs at each other. Try to destroy forts for bonus points, and just have a good time. Y'know?"

"That's . . . uncharacteristically uncompetitive of you," Francis said.

"Yeah, well, that's only 'cause I can't think of a good scoring system," Al admitted. "But if there _was_ one, me and Mei would win hands-down."

"Pardon me, but you're wrong," Kiku said. "Hercules and I would win."

"I have a question, too," Artie said, raising his hand. "Is—"

"Put your hand down, nerd, we're not in class," Al muttered.

Artie leaned over and hit Al's head before putting his hand down.

"Proceed."

"As I was saying, would using magic to assist in the fight be considered cheating?"

Al snickered. "I mean, if you wanna use _magic_ . . . no one's gonna stop you."

"Good," Artie said. "There's someone in this group—I won't say his name—who I would _love_ to pelt repeatedly in the face with frozen ammo."

He stared at Ludwig menacingly.

"What did I do?" Ludwig muttered.

"Speaking of cheating," Gil said, "what counts as cheating here?"

Al shrugged. "Uh . . . I guess using anything outside of snowballs to hit people? Like you can't go over to someone's fort and start punching the shit out of them, and you can't, like, throw a wheelbarrow."

"A wheelbarrow—?"

"First thing that popped into my head."

"Right, right, whatever," Gil said. "So stealing other people's snowballs doesn't count as cheating?"

"I guess if you don't get caught, go for it," Al said.

Gil grinned. "Awesome."

"So we all cool for Saturday?" Al said. "We can meet . . . where do you guys wanna meet?"

"My yard's no good," I said.

"I don't think the landlady would appreciate a snowball fight in front of the building," Lovi muttered.

"Our yard's pretty small," Gil said.

"Mine is, too," Kiku said.

"How about somewhere within walking distance?" Artie said. "For all of us, I mean. Also, my place is out. I'm pretty sure my brothers would crash the gathering."

" _Is_ there somewhere within walking distance for all of us?" Francis muttered.

"Anywhere's within walking distance if you try hard enough," Al declared.

There was some more arguing and debating. Finally, we all agreed to meet at a park on the way to school. It was usually pretty empty, so hopefully there wouldn't be people there this Saturday.

"Sweet, that's settled," Al said. "Remember, no wheelbarrows."


	26. The Man, the Power, and the Painting

"Kiku's . . . a man today."

We glanced over to Herc, and then to Kiku.

"Happy birthday!" Toni exclaimed.

"Thank you," Kiku said quietly.

"If he wasn't a man before, what was he?" Artie asked thoughtfully.

"A boy," Herc said. "We are but boys . . . before we become men."

"Whatever, Rudyard," Al said.

"What am I, then?" Mei said. "My birthday was in October, but before then . . . ?"

"A girl, and then a woman?" Gil said. "No, that doesn't sound right . . ."

"No matter how old you are, you'll always be _my_ girl," Al declared.

"You are so predictable, it's annoying," Artie muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, Lovi!" I exclaimed. "That means we're gonna be men next month!"

"That reminds me," Ludwig said. "Feli, would you like to go out for your birthday?"

"Luddie, you can't ask him out like that," Gil said exasperatedly. "You gotta be more aggressive, like, 'We're going out for your b-day.'"

"Matthew, how do you put up with him?" Ludwig muttered.

"You're the one who lives with him," Matt said quietly.

"Fair point. Regardless, asking is far more polite, _Bruder_."

"You could also do it more flirtily," Francis suggested. "Like . . . 'You know the new restaurant downtown? It just needs one more thing to finish it: Me and you, dining together.'"

"You used that on me last week!" Artie exclaimed.

"Well, it's not a _secret_ , and it worked," Francis pointed out.

"Ludwig?" I said quietly. "My answer's yes."

He smiled. "Thank you." He turned to Francis and Gil. "You see? I don't need tips on asking him out."

"Wouldn't hurt," Francis muttered.

"Oh my god," Al said. "Guys, what if there was a magic power that could turn you into a painting or trap you in a photo? Wouldn't that be creepy?"

"How did you come up with that one?" Lovi muttered.

"Well, see, Ludwig asked Mattie how he puts up with Gil, and—"

"Actually, I don't really want to know."

"Then don't ask!"

"That actually sounds interesting," Artie remarked. "How would the victim escape?"

"Good question," Al said. "What about, like, they totally can't move in the picture, so they have to rely on someone else to get them out?"

"How does the person trap them?" Mei asked.

"Well, if it's, like, a painting, they could probably just paint the person and their real-life body disappears," Al said. "But like, if it's a photo, all the dude would have to do is snap a pic."

"What if it's a phone, not something like a polaroid?" Toni asked. "And if the photo was deleted . . . ?"

"Oh, fuck, I dunno, I guess they'd die," Al said in surprise.

"Now I'm gonna have nightmares," I whispered.

"Wow, good job, Alfie," Gil said. "You scared Feli!"

"I didn't mean to!"

"So, um, speaking of paintings," Mei said, "Feli, how are the portraits coming along?"

"Oh, they're good!" I said. "I just remembered—who wants to be next? I can start today!"

"I'll go," Francis said, raising his hand.

"I was gonna say that," Gil muttered.

"Well, I can do both of you . . ."

"Sweet!"

"So, after those two, who's left . . . ?" Artie murmured.

"Um . . . Lovi," I said, "Ludwig, and Toni."

"You aren't . . . painting yourself?" Herc asked.

I shrugged. "Well, if there's time, but . . . these are presents for everyone else, so I wasn't planning on it."

"Fair enough."

"Can we see them?" Al demanded.

"Um . . . well, no," I said. "I mean, can we wait 'til everyone's is done?"

"Aw, okay . . ."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Gil said. "Then you can just give them all at the same time whenever they're all done, right?"

I nodded.

"For real, though," Al said, "if you had that power to trap people in a picture, would you do it?"

Artie scowled. "Stop asking weird things!"


	27. The Meal, the Ride, and the Questions

I managed to park right and quickly got out after turning off the engine. I hurried into the fast-food place and got in line for the counter.

When it was my turn, I found myself looking at Toni, who was behind the counter.

He grinned. "Hi! What'll it be today?"

"Oh—! Uh—" I quickly glanced up at the menu. "Can I have three small combos—to go?"

He punched it into the machine. "Will that be all?"

"Yep!"

I dug the money out and paid him, then went to wait off to the side. When the food came, I took it to a table, opened up one of the orders, and started eating.

* * *

I'd just thrown away the wrappers from my food and I was coming back to the table when I saw Lovi and Toni waving at me from outside. I quickly gathered up the rest of the food and left the place.

"I didn't know you liked this kind of food," Toni said cheerfully. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, uh . . . I wanted to wish you happy birthday again," I explained, "and I got you guys dinner!" I showed them the other two orders of food.

"Holy shit, thank you," Lovi exclaimed, smiling a little. They each took one.

"Thanks, Feli," Toni said, grinning.

I glanced at the car. "D'you guys want a ride home? You can put your bikes in the back, and I need driving practice anyway."

"You're too nice," Toni said. "But yeah, that sounds good. Lovi?"

"I'll say yes," Lovi said. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Y'know, Feli . . . saying 'I need driving practice' when you're about to drive people sounds nerve-wracking . . ."

I shrugged. "Well, I do need practice . . . and I got myself here just fine!"

"Still," Lovi muttered. Toni hurried away and came back with the bikes and the lock.

I got into the front seat as they put the stuff in the back. They climbed into the backseat and I started up the car.

"So, um," I said as I pulled out. "Are you guys doing okay? With . . . everything?"

Silence.

"Yeah, pretty much," Toni said at last. "The rent hasn't been raised recently or anything, so that's good! And food's okay, too!"

"What he said," Lovi said. "I mean, it's cold at night, but . . . it's always been like that."

"We keep each other warm," Toni added.

". . . Yeah," Lovi muttered.

I quickly stopped at the light. "Oh, that's good!"

"How about you?" Toni asked.

"About the same," I replied. The light suddenly turned green and I moved forward. "Eliza's fun to talk to and hang out with, and stepfather's . . ."

"A prick," Lovi finished.

I shrugged. "Yeah . . . pretty much."

"Hey, you wanna be an artist, right?" Toni said. We were getting close to their place. "Are they okay with that?"

"Eliza is!" I said happily. "But . . . stepfather isn't. I mentioned it and he kinda . . . what's the word?"

"Scoffed?" Lovi suggested.

"Yeah, that's it," I said. "He _scoffed_. Eliza was right, he doesn't think painting and stuff is a real job."

"Yeah, well, he's an idiot," Lovi said. I pulled into the parking lot in front of their building. "You want to get through in life? Don't listen to a fucking _word_ he says."

"He's . . . the one who's gonna pay for college," I said quietly. We all got out of the car. "So I kinda have to."

"He still can't control what job you get," Lovi pointed out. "Feli, if you can, do what you wanna do, but make sure you earn money doing it."

Toni glanced at him. "Good advice. You think I should become a hairdresser after all?"

Lovi smiled a little bit. "That's your business."

I grinned. "Anyway . . . I'm gonna go. Goodnight! Toni, happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" Toni exclaimed. "And thanks for the food!"

"No problem! Thanks for taking my order!"

"Thank _you_ for the ri—"

"Okay, that's enough," Lovi snapped. "But, uh . . . thanks."

They headed inside. I watched them go before going back to the car, ready to drive back home.


	28. The Omen, the Bad Luck, and the Flowers

**FFN and Google Docs give me a word count of almost a 40-word difference for this chapter. I don't know which one is glitching. It's probably FFN.**

* * *

"We're all going to die."

Ludwig and I glanced up at Gil.

"What?" Ludwig said.

"We're going to die if we're not careful," Gil announced, slumping over the table. "It's Friday the 13th, guys. Forgot to tell everyone at lunch. Give my regards to Mattie."

"I've told you before, that's only superstition," Ludwig muttered.

"I'm not superstitious, but . . . I'm gonna be extra-careful, just in case," I said.

"Luddie, just because nothing bad's happened to us on any other Friday the 13th, doesn't mean nothing won't happen this year," Gil said firmly.

"It also doesn't mean anything bad happening is correlated with the date," Ludwig said sternly.

"Where does that come from, anyway?" I asked, slumping over the table to match Gil. "The supervision—I mean, superstition."

"Give me a second," Ludwig said, taking out his phone.

"Ooh, Miss Nancy Drew's gonna look it up on her fancy all-knowing computer," Gil said sarcastically.

"Everyone has one nowadays," Ludwig muttered, typing something in, "and if I _was_ Nancy Drew, I wouldn't need to look up anything, would I?"

"I bet _one_ of those detective fuckers secretly carried around an encyclopedia and pretended to know shit off the top of their head," Gil said absently. "Hell, it was probably Encyclopedia Brown, the name fits and that kid was _way_ too smart for his own good, I'm surprised the guy with the stupid hat didn't beat him up more often—"

"It says here that the number thirteen is historically considered unlucky in most Western civilizations," Ludwig interrupted. "Part of it might stem from the Bible telling of Jesus dining in a group of thirteen. Friday has also been considered unlucky, and . . . I suppose people just put them together to create a superstition of the unluckiest day."

"So it's just a story?" I said.

"Seems so. According to this, Friday the 17th is considered unlucky in _Italian_ culture."

Ludwig and Gil glanced at me.

"I haven't heard that before," I said. "The only Italian story _nonno_ told Lovi and me was _La Fontana di Pasta_."

"The pasta fountain one, right?" Ludwig said. "Like I said, I think he made that one up. Not that it's a bad story . . ."

Gil snickered. "Sure, okay. Anything else, Luddie?"

Ludwig looked back at his phone. "Says here it's especially bad luck to travel, break a mirror, or walk under a ladder on Friday the 13th . . . and you or someone in your family will die if a funeral procession passes or a relative cuts their hair."

"Lovi got his hair cut today," I said, sitting up. "Remember? I asked him about the hair bits on his face and he said he and Toni got up really early to cut their hair."

"It was nice knowing you, Feli," Gil said solemnly.

"What?! I don't want to die!"

"Honestly, no one's going to die," Ludwig muttered. "Superstitions mean nothing."

"What kind of flowers do you want?" Gil asked. "I mean, the funeral or hospital flower is the li—"

" _Bruder_ , for the love of—stop scaring him!" Ludwig exclaimed. Someone nearby shushed us.

"Am I really going to die?" I whispered.

"Not anytime soon," Ludwig said firmly. "Just ignore the myths and whatever Gilbert says."

"Oh, that's good," I said in relief. "I want to spend more time with you!"

Ludwig reached over and took my hand. "Do you want to come over to my place after tomorrow's snowball fight? We can make a cake together."

"Dude, do it," Gil whispered. "He's a really good baker."

"I know," I whispered back. "Yeah, that sounds good!"

Ludwig smiled. "Excellent!" He looked at Gil. "Are you planning to invite Matthew?"

"Nah, he said he's gonna need some alone time after the fight," Gil said, "so we'll text later, just not in person. I'll ask Mei later if she's planning to visit Alfie or ask him to come over."

"Ludwig, what kind of cake are we making?"

"Whatever kind you want. I'll get the ingredients tonight if we need them."

"Tiramisu!"

"You got it!"

* * *

 **Next chapter's gonna be fun and longer than usual, mark my words!**


	29. The Snow, the Fight, and the Magic

**It's still Monday where I live, but this is a bit late. I'm sorry, I'm just terrible at keeping track of time.**

* * *

Everyone was finally here. We were gathered in the park, and the snow was a good few inches deep. I had a bag over my shoulder for later.

"K, so, everyone knows the rules?" Al exclaimed. "Go make forts or whatever and start chucking!"

"I mean, we know them _now_ ," Artie muttered. He stuck a hand inside his jacket. "Jasmine, come on."

He turned around and started walking. Then he paused and looked back. "Jasmine!"

"Am _I_ Jasmine?" Francis demanded.

"Of course you are!"

"Why am I Jasmine?!"

"You know why! Now come on!"

Francis muttered something and went after him. We all split up after a little bit—everyone went with their partner.

"Feli, what's the bag for?" Ludwig asked as we went to our own spot.

"I got a change of clothes for later," I explained. "You'll see!"

I dropped the bag and we started building up a snow fort.

"How're we gonna do this?" I asked. "Is one of us gonna make snowballs while the other throws?"

"I get the feeling if you threw them, you wouldn't be hit very much," Ludwig said, "but . . . how good is your aim?"

I shrugged.

"I'd best throw them, then. You can stay back here and make the ammo."

We finished packing up the snow fort. I glanced around—everyone else was about done, too.

"Start making them!"

"Yes, sir!"

I crouched down and quickly started packing snow. As soon as I finished one snowball, Ludwig would grab it and hurl it at someone. I heard shouting.

"You're doing good," he said after a time, dropping down. "I—where's the stockpile?"

"It's right—" I glanced down. "It's gone?!"

Ludwig looked around. "Where did they go?!"

I peeked over the top of the snow fort and saw movement in the snow—someone dressed all in white was crawling back to their fort. When they turned around at their own fort, I saw it was Gil, holding the pile of snowballs from me and Ludwig.

"Snow ninja!" he yelled.

Ludwig quickly balled up some snow and threw it smack into Gil's face.

"Sorry about him, Feli," he said, ducking another snowball from Al.

"No problem, I'll get back to work!" I exclaimed, ducking down again and starting to make more snowballs.

I heard a _whump_ and looked up to see the remains of a snowball fall from Ludwig's face.

"You've been hit!" I cried.

"I didn't know you could hit the side of a barn, much less me!" Ludwig yelled. He ducked down and grabbed a snowball. "Damn Arthur, thinks he can beat us?!"

"Artie was the one who hit you?!"

He straightened up and threw the snowball towards Artie and Francis. I didn't see what happened since I was still ducking, making more snowballs, but after a second, Ludwig yelled, "What the _hell_?!"

"Don't worry about it, dude!" Al yelled. "No one else's been able to hit him, either!"

"Come at us if you dare!" Artie yelled.

"What happened?" I cried, popping up to look just in time to see Toni throw a snowball towards Artie and Francis. The snowball fell straight to the ground just before it reached them.

"We're untouchable!" Francis yelled. "Take this!"

Artie threw three snowballs in quick succession. Ludwig ducked and turned around to face me, but the snowballs curved and hit him square in the face.

"Nice, Arthur!" Gil yelled. "Take that, Luddie!"

"There is _no way_ your aim is _that_ good!" Ludwig yelled, popping up from the fort again, but he was hit in the face again.

"Technically I'm not cheating!" Artie yelled.

"Hey, can someone help us?!" Al yelled.

"Kiku and Herc are winning!" Mei yelled.

Everyone popped up and looked over to see Kiku, Herc, Al, and Mei engaged in a two-on-two war.

"I'm on Kiku's and Herc's side, honestly!" Artie called. He took something out of his jacket, and a second later, Al's and Mei's fort exploded.

"Go nuts, you two!" Francis yelled.

"Artie, what the HELL?!" Al yelled.

"Hey, don't damage Mei's chances like that!" Gil yelled. "Mattie, let's get 'em!"

He and Matt started throwing snowballs at Artie and Francis, but none of them reached them.

"Arthur, what did you _do_?!" Mei yelled, gathering more snowballs and throwing them while Kiku and Herc pummeled her and Al.

"Magic!"

"Don't pull that magic bullshit now, tell us what you did!" Al yelled, shielding himself from the snowballs.

"Oh, so he's using magic!" I exclaimed. "That explains it!"

"Feli, magic isn't real!" Ludwig exclaimed. He was immediately hit in the back of the head by three snowballs from Artie, even though he was facing Artie. Our fort suddenly exploded.

"We're going home now!" Toni called. He and Lovi stood up. "See you guys at school!"

* * *

It was hard to say who won the fight, but when it finally ended, Ludwig and Al were red in the face from being hit with so many snowballs. They both glared at Artie.

"Good fight, you guys," Artie said, smiling.

"I'm gonna pummel you to the ground later," Al muttered.

"I'll join you," Ludwig muttered.

"Artie, what did you do, seriously?" Gil asked.

Artie took something out of his jacket—it looked like a stick with a star at the end. "Magic."

"I can confirm," Francis said, nodding.

"Okay, whatever, we're going home," Al said. "Good fight, though. Mei?"

"I'll tag along," Mei said.

"I want a nap," Matt murmured.

"Y'all have fun with that, I'll be having a party by myself," Gil announced.

"Feli and I will be making a cake," Ludwig said firmly. I nodded.

"Francis, do you want to come over to my place?" Artie asked. Francis shrugged and nodded.

Eventually, everyone split up to go their separate ways.

"I'm going to punch Arthur," Ludwig muttered to me as we walked with Gil.

"Please don't," I whispered.

"Y'know, I think he really was using magic," Gil remarked. "I mean, I dunno how else you could make snow forts explode like that. No one but Al could possibly throw that hard."

"I still don't believe him."

"I'd like it if magic was real," I said.

Ludwig glanced at me.

"What?"

"Nothing . . ."


	30. The Dress, the Cake, and the Curl

**Narrator: Ludwig**

* * *

Feli, Gilbert, and I finally reached the house, shaking off snow as I shut the front door.

"Oh, it's so much warmer in here," Feli sighed happily.

"Totally," Gilbert agreed. "Well, unless you two want help with the cake, I'll be in my room."

"You never help even when you offer," I reminded him.

"Then I'll be in my room. You guys can have your quality lovebird time." He headed upstairs, pointing at us until he was out of sight.

" _Vater_ usually takes a nap at this time, so we're alone for now," I said, turning to Feli. "Do you want to start?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Oh, but—" he held up the bag he'd brought. "Can I change first? I'll be quick."

"Of course," I said. "You know where the bathroom is; I'll start getting out the ingredients."

"Okay, thanks!"

He scurried to the bathroom and I went to the kitchen. After tying a half-apron around my waist, I went from the pantry to the fridge, getting out the cookware and ingredients for the recipe. I'd never made or had tiramisu before . . . I wondered if I'd be able to do it correctly, even with Feli's help.

With everything out, I went to wash my hands once more, and then rested my elbows on the counter, waiting for Feli to come out.

Hearing movement, I looked up—my eyes widened.

Feli was wearing a light green-and-white dress. He set aside the bag, which I supposed held his previous clothes, and smiled brightly.

"Do you like it?"

" _Mein Gott_ ," I murmured. "I . . . I love it. Where did you . . . ?"

"It was Eliza's," he admitted, coming forward to meet me at the counter. "She said she didn't want it anymore, and she tailored it so it'd fit me."

"You look amazing."

He grinned, stood on tiptoes, and kissed my cheek. "Thanks!"

"It's been a long time since I've seen you wear a dress," I remarked as we started cracking the eggs into a bowl.

"Yeah, this is the first time since I was eleven!" he exclaimed. I showed him how to scoop out the yolks so we could put them in a saucepan. "I couldn't show this to stepfather . . . I'm gonna have to change again before I go . . ."

"Do you . . . ever want to wear dresses?" I asked. He looked at the recipe and carefully measured out the sugar, his hands shaking a bit. "Around the house, or . . . ?"

"Yeah! Sometimes," he said, dumping the sugar into the saucepan. "Dresses feel really nice, and some of them'd let me move my legs around more! And if we're going out somewhere and the people running the restaurant or wherever we're going don't mind, I could wear a really pretty fancy one!"

I stirred the yolks and sugar together while Feli measured the milk.

"Do you ever feel that way?"

I glanced at him. He poured the milk in (some splashed onto the counter) and looked up at me.

"No," I admitted. I smiled. "But if you needed me to, I could wear one. The only issue is finding one which would fit me."

I grabbed a towel and wiped up the spilled milk. When I looked back up, he was smiling again.

"I understand," he said happily. He stirred the items in the saucepan; I made him hand it over when he started spilling it just a little too much.

"You're lucky to have one supportive parent, at least," I said, putting the pan on the stove and turning on the heat.

"Isn't your dad supportive?"

"Oh—yes," I said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that with someone like your stepfather in your life, and not to mention the way Mei's father treated her . . ."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

"I won't repeat it," he promised. He adjusted his dress.

"Here, would you come over here and tell me when this boils?" I asked, stepping away from the stove. He nodded and came over, looking into the pan and stirring occasionally.

Once it boiled, I took it off the heat, poured it into a container, and stuck it in the fridge with a lid on it.

"We'll have to let that sit for an hour or so," I said, glancing at the recipe to make sure. He sighed.

* * *

The two of us ended up sitting on the couch, listening to music. I glanced over at him to see him staring up at the ceiling, drumming his fingers.

"I love your hair," I said. I realized right away it must have been an odd thing to say so suddenly, but he didn't seem to mind, and looked over at me.

I reached over and brushed his hair, my fingers catching that odd curl on the left side. "It's so—"

He gasped. "Don't—!"

I quickly let go. " _Verdammt_ , I'm sorry," I exclaimed, leaning over to check on him. "Did I hurt you?"

He shook his head. "I just . . ." he gestured to his hair. "The . . . hair curl, it . . ."

"What?" I recalled an instance from tenth grade, in which he'd made an odd noise after I'd touched it . . .

He looked down. "It's . . ."

He leaned in and explained quietly.

" _Oh_ ," I said. "I . . . I see."

I shifted in my place. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," he said, smiling. "I know."

"Who else . . . knows?"

"Well, uh," he said, looking up, "Lovi's the same way, and I'm pretty sure he told Toni at some point, and Francis figured it out . . . that's it, I think."

" _Francis_ figured it out?!" I exclaimed, standing before I remembered Francis was nowhere near enough to punch.

"He never told anyone else, so it's fine!" Feli exclaimed. "Don't hurt him!"

I sat back down. "Fine. I can't say I'm happy about that . . ."

"It's okay, though," he insisted, scooting over so we were closer and resting his head on my shoulder. I sighed and leaned against him in turn.

* * *

Once the mixture was ready, the rest of it took no time at all. Feli wasn't a bad cook, despite spilling things while adding or mixing (I had to have a towel ready often), and before we knew it the cake was in the fridge, chilling for later.

"It has to stay there for at least four hours," I said, looking at the recipe to be sure, and Feli sighed loudly.

"Hey, don't worry," I said. "I know you're going to be picked up soon, so I'll just bring it to school next week. I promise I won't have even a bite until then, and I'll make sure Gilbert doesn't touch it, either."

"Oh, that's fine," he said, smiling. Footsteps around the corner made us turn around.

"Hey, losers," Gilbert said as he came around to the kitchen. "Mattie said he was gonna take a nap, and I figured you'd had enough lovebird time by n—"

He glanced at Feli and grinned.

"Hey, nice dress," he said with a thumbs-up.

"Oh! Thanks," Feli said, smiling again. "But I gotta change now, Eliza's gonna come get me soon."

"Can I have some of the cake?" Gilbert asked as Feli went to the bathroom to change.

"You may _not_ ," I said sternly. "You touch even one crumb of that cake and it'll be your head I cook up next."

He held up his hands. "Wow, harsh much? By the way, Mattie said Mei's leaving in like five or ten, so she'll be back soon."

"Okay, thank you," I said, cleaning up what mess the cooking had caused.

Feli came out of the bathroom soon, the dress back in the bag.

All-too-soon, a knock came at the door. Gilbert and I greeted Eliza; Feli and I hugged goodbye before he left with her, waving as Gilbert shut the door.

"So, for real," he said, "can I have some of that cake?"


	31. The List, the Macaroni, and the Marriage

**Narrator: Alfred**

* * *

Man, have I ever talked about how much I love spending time with Mei?! 'Cause I love it _so much_ , it's like the best thing ever, one of those things where you can't knock it 'til you try it, right? What does that even mean, anyway? Is it talking about knocking something off a shelf, or just like mentally knocking it aside off of a list of things you need to do? Shit, that reminds me, there was a list of stuff to do on the fridge, I guess I can take care of that later—

"Al?" Mei said. "What are we going to do?"

I looked around. Somehow we'd ended up in my living room. Huh. "What're we gonna do about what?" I asked. "Also, where'd Mattie go?"

Mei smiled. "You were zoning out again. Matt went upstairs. He said he was going to text Gil for a little bit and then sleep. I was just asking you what we were going to do while I'm here."

"Oh! I totally didn't notice, sorry! Yeah, uh—" I looked around. "I'm gonna be honest, I didn't actually get this far in thinking ahead. Because I didn't do that. Think ahead."

"It's fine," she said.

"Oh, uh—how about food?" I said. "You hungry? I got mac n' cheese in the pantry, or, uh . . ."

"Mac n' cheese sounds good," she said. "Do you want help making it?"

"Nah, I make it all the time," I said, heading to the kitchen. She followed (yes!) and leaned against the wall.

"Do you ever cook things besides ready-made things?" she asked. I glanced over—man, her hair looked really pretty today.

"Nah," I said. I got the box and dumped water into the pot and put it on the stove. "I mean, I've tried, but it never turns out good, like I always forget about it and it burns or something, or I just fuck up the ingredients somehow, so I've pretty much given up on learning to cook real things. Besides, mac n' cheese is, like, _really_ good."

"I'm sure it's better when you turn on the stove."

"Oh, shit, thanks," I said. She's a real lifesaver, I'm _so_ glad we're dating—I turned on the stove.

She smiled (AAAAA) and glanced at something. "What's that list for?"

I looked over at the fridge. "Oh, forgot about that," I said. "Just a list of stuff to do before mom n' dad get back whenever. No biggie, I'll take care of it later."

"Whenever?"

"Yeah, they're supposed to be back tonight, but they could be back tomorrow morning or something," I explained. I glanced at the pot. It was boiling, so I dumped in the noodles and stirred it real quick.

"They're really gone a lot," she said quietly.

I shrugged. "Yeah. It's not a big deal, me n' Mattie're used to it. That's why I'm an expert at making mac n' cheese."

"I should make you dinner sometime," Mei said. "A diet of mac n' cheese can't be that good for you."

"Oh, hell yeah, your cooking's the best!" I exclaimed, grinning. "And we'll take turns when we're married, hell, maybe I can even learn to cook proper food—"

"Al!" she exclaimed, staring at me—what's that word? Oh yeah, incredulously.

"What?"

She laughed. "We're too young to start talking about _marriage_!"

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," I exclaimed, throwing my hands to my head. "That kinda slipped out, I didn't mean—uh—"

"It's fine, it's fine," she said, coming over to the stove to turn off the burner. I looked over and grabbed the pot to add the cheese and milk and stuff. "We're not getting married just yet, so hold off on that for a few years."

"Right, yeah," I said. "Okay, we're good here!"

I grabbed a couple bowls and poured in the mac n' cheese, handing one off to Mei. We went out to the couch, and when she sat down, I remembered we needed spoons so I ran back to the kitchen and grabbed them and came back. She looked at me weird when I sat down and handed her the spoon but she didn't say anything.

"This _is_ good," she said after she took a bite. Yes! She smiled at me. "I bet we _could_ live off this . . . when we're married."

I almost threw my spoon in the air, but good thing I didn't or it probably would have hit the ceiling. I looked up. Actually, _would_ it have hit the ceiling?

I threw my spoon up and it hit the ceiling and left an orange mark from the cheese.

"Why . . . did you do that?" Mei asked, looking up.

"Wondered if the spoon would hit the ceiling."

"Okay."

I grinned and put my head on her shoulder. "You're great."

"So're you!"

"Yeah, but you put up with a lot of my shit, everyone else just ignores me or scoffs like Artie," I explained.

"That's just part of being in a relationship, isn't it?" she said. "You're in it for everything, good and bad."

"Well, yeah, that's true," I said. I looked up at the ceiling. "I'll clean that up later."

"Good luck."

"Hey, you used to do karate, right?" I said, finishing off my mac n' cheese. "When'd you stop?"

She shifted in her seat and glanced at my bowl. "Well . . . Dad made me stop in middle school because he wanted—" she paused. "Because he . . . made me help around the house more. Cooking things, cleaning things . . ."

"Oh." Damn, I probably shouldn't have brought that up, she probably doesn't wanna talk about her dad.

"But . . . it's okay," she added. "I still know the basics, and I can still kick ass."

I looked at her. "Anyone who gets their ass kicked by you should thank you from the bottom of their souls."

"What?" she said, laughing. "Why?"

"It should be an honor to be beaten up by someone amazing like you!"

"You're sweet," she said. She kissed my cheek (yes!).

"You know," she said, "when we _do_ get married . . . I actually will be related to Gil and Ludwig."

"Huh?" I said. "Why? What?"

"Well . . . let's say everyone we know who's currently dating ends up married at some point," she said. "Your brother marries Gil, and I marry you, and that would make me Gil's and Ludwig's sister-in-law." She looked to the side. "I think that's how it works."

"Oh, good point," I said. "Hey, that means we'll be related to Feli, too, since Feli would marry Ludwig!"

"Yeah!" she said. "And then all of us would be related distantly to Arthur, since he's your cousin . . . and Francis, if those two marry!"

"Yeah, and Feli and Lovino are related, too," I said, waving my spoon, "so if Lovino and Toni end up married, and they might as well be married, they already live together and stuff, we'd be related to Toni too!"

"I guess that only leaves Herc and Kiku," Mei said.

"Yeah, they're all alone, unless Herc's secretly someone's brother separated at birth or some weird novel shit like that," I said. "But they're honorary members of the family anyway, so that doesn't matter."

"Oh, I hope that happens, then we'll have a good excuse to get together for holidays even after school," she said, smiling.

* * *

When it started getting darker, Mei said she'd better get back, so I ran upstairs and told Mattie to tell Gil she was coming back. He said okay and that he was going to nap soon, so I told him I'd be quiet and ran back downstairs. Mei and I got to kiss goodbye (Hell yeah!) and then she had to go (Aw).

Wasn't there something I had to do . . . ? Well, it can't've been that important if I forgot.

* * *

 **Something I've realized about Al recently... he doesn't actually care about a lot of things. He used to be really stressed from late elementary to junior high due to memory problems, low grades, and general twitchiness (he mentioned he had insomnia a few years ago before), but not long after high school started he just decided to stop caring about... most things. He stopped caring about his parents being gone so much, he stopped caring about his grades and schoolwork in general, and he stopped caring about forgetting things, trying to take these things in stride instead. Mattie, his friends, and Mei are some of the only things he really cares about anymore, and he probably wouldn't go to school if it weren't for them.**


	32. The Nicknames, the Books, and the Sight

**Ever since the first story ended, I've been keeping track of how many chapters each character gets a viewpoint in (excluding Feli). Throughout all three stories, including this chapter, Artie and Francis have five viewpoints, and everyone else has four. I feel like that's a pretty good amount for everyone.**

 **Narrator: Arthur**

* * *

"That was amazing," Francis said as we went up to my room. Seamus and Dean were out, and Colin and James were downstairs watching television. "Magic is amazing. _You're_ amazing."

"Hey, everyone," I said, smiling as we entered my room and shut the door. Mari and Rowan were on the bed, Fern was lying by the dresser, and Sage was on Fern's back.

"Thank you," I added to Francis. I got a chorus of "Hellos" from the others.

"What do you mean 'Hey, everyone?'" Francis said, looking around. He narrowed his eyes. "Your friends?"

"Yes," I said, sitting with him on the floor. Sage flew over to nest in my hair (typical) while Mari sat on Francis's shoulder. He glanced to the side, but only shifted where he sat and looked back to me. "They prefer to come in here when it snows."

"Frost is okay, but snow's not much fun," Rowan piped up, rolling onto his stomach on the bed. "Arthur's house is much warmer."

I relayed what he'd said to Francis and took out my wand. I stood, muttered, " _Tel ereht eb htmraw_ ," and waved it in a circle above my head. It suddenly felt as though a fire had been lit in the corner.

"Nice," Francis said, smiling. I sat down again, careful to keep Sage on my head.

"Thank you, Jasmine," I said politely.

"Do you want me to call you Aladdin?" he said with a sarcastic smile.

"That would make me a vagrant in disguise, wouldn't it?" I pointed out.

"You're not far off."

"Hey!"

He grinned.

"Yours makes more sense anyway," I muttered. "You're already my princess."

He leaned forward (Mari clutching his shirt) and kissed my nose. "You can be romantic sometimes. I like that."

I grinned and rubbed my nose. "Good to know."

"I can put on a dress, if you like."

"Do you have one?"

He winked. "I'll never tell."

"I could make you."

"You wouldn't."

"You're right."

I eyed him. "I could make your clothes into one, you know."

"Do _not_ ," he said. "I like these clothes."

Rowan snickered. I eyed him, pretending to be annoyed.

"You never read anymore, do you?" Francis said suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"You used to read all the time," he said. "What happened to that?"

I frowned. "I do still read."

"But . . ."

"Oh, you mean at lunch and whatnot," I exclaimed. "I suppose I don't, do I?"

He looked at me expectantly.

"I guess . . . we all became better friends, and I . . . didn't have a reason to read anymore when I could talk and listen more often," I said, shifting my feet. "I read in my spare time, though, or when I'm trying to ignore Alfred in first period."

"Oh, I see," he murmured.

An awkward moment of silence.

"Remember when you were crying in the forest because you had no friends?" Fern said suddenly. "Look at how far you've come!"

I almost choked (on nothing?) and glared at her. "Don't bring that up! I could say the same about all of you!"

"But _we_ weren't _crying_ ," Rowan pointed out.

"Shut it!"

"What's going on?" Francis muttered.

"Nothing! Don't worry about it!"

Mari giggled. Francis glanced to the side, but said nothing and looked back.

"But . . . I really am glad we've all become friends," I admitted, smiling and looking down. "Even Ludwig and Alfred . . ."

"I'm just glad you and I got together," Francis remarked. "I get the feeling we would've had a lot of unresolved sexual tension had we remained single."

"Francis!" I yelled, glaring at him.

"What?"

"Don't say things like that!"

"Why not?! It's true!"

"I don't have sexual tension!"

"You're such a liar, I see it in your eyes!"

"You can _not_ , it doesn't work like that!"

"It does _so_!"

"Does _not_!"

"Emotions and other things, sure, but not _sexual tension!"_

"That's not . . ."

He trailed off, and, coincidentally, I thought I saw something in his eyes change. He looked back at me and his eyes widened as he stared at . . . my hair?

"Arthur, if you created some weird new lifeform and put it on your head without me noticing, I will not be happy," he said slowly.

"If I—what? I'm not Dr. Frankenstein," I said. "Though I supposed he didn't technically create _new_ life, he only brought back dead parts . . ."

"Arthur, I am _serious_ ," Francis snapped. He looked at my dresser and jumped. "Where did that come from?!"

"My dresser's been there the whole time!"

"Don't mess with me! What is that, a unicorn pony?!"

"A . . ." I looked at Fern. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you're talking about me?" she said, standing. Francis jumped and scooted backwards, eyes wide.

"It talks?!"

"Don't call me 'it,'" Fern mumbled. Mari floated off of Francis's shoulder and he yelled out loud.

"Were you on my shoulder the whole time?!"

"Yes," Mari said, hovering near him.

"Wait, hold up," I said. "Francis, you—you _see_ them?"

He nodded. "What . . ."

"Never seen _that_ happen," Rowan remarked. Francis stared at him.

"These are . . . my friends," I said. "The one on my head is Sage . . . the pixie is Marigold . . . the brownie is Rowan . . . and the unicorn pony is Fern."

Francis was met with a chorus of greetings. He sat up (very slowly) and stared around the room.

"I can _see_ them . . . I can see all of you," he said in awe. "Why?"

I grinned. "Mortals who form a strong connection with a wizard or demi-wizard . . . can gain the Sight."

He smiled shakily. "Oh . . ."

"That's wonderful!" Sage exclaimed. "Francis, you're _really_ special!"

"Am I? I guess I must be . . ."

I sprang forward (Sage tumbling off my head) and knocked him to the ground with a hug.

"We're on the same page," I said near his head. "I'm _really_ glad we got together."

"Does this mean Francis can visit us in the woods?" Mari asked.

"If it's okay with everyone, yes."

"I haven't agreed to anything," Francis protested, though he didn't move.

"I'll see if I can't get you there day after the solstice," I said, pecking him on the lips.

Today had been a good day.


	33. The Aliens, the Bread, and the Invite

"So, like, aliens, right?" Al said as I dropped my stuff. He, Artie, and me were in English waiting for the first bell.

"What about them?" I said.

"They're totally real, right?"

I shrugged. "I . . . don't know."

Al sighed. "Well, see, _I_ say they're real, but _Artie_ says they aren't—"

"I didn't say they weren't real," Artie snapped. "I said there probably aren't any on _Mars_ , which is what _you_ said."

"But that's like the same as saying they aren't real!"

"It is _not_ , where do you even get that from?"

"Look, just because you have UST, doesn't mean you can take it out on me, okay? You gotta talk to Francis and—"

"Not you, too!" Artie yelled.

"What do you mean, me too?" Al exclaimed.

"What's UST?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it, Feli, just something Artie needs to work out with Francis."

"I'm not talking about this," Artie snapped.

"Fine, whatever," Al muttered. "But anyway, aliens are real."

"Okay," I said.

"Couple days before your birthday, right?" Al said suddenly. "You're gonna be a _man_. You and Lovi."

I grinned. "Yeah! Ludwig and I are going out to dinner!"

"Awesome, dude! Save me some bread!"

"Why bread?" Artie muttered.

"Have you _had_ bread?"

"Yes."

"There you go."

* * *

"Oh, before I forget," I exclaimed at lunch, "Gil, Francis, I finished your guys's paintings!"

"Oh, sweet," Gil exclaimed at the same time Francis said, "Good job!"

"So . . ." I looked to Lovi, Toni, and Ludwig.

"You can save mine for last," Ludwig said. "I don't mind."

"Okay! Lovi, Toni, I'm gonna do your guys's next," I announced. "And then I'll have enough time to finish Ludwig's and maybe mine before we graduate!"

"Got a good few months until then, so take your time," Lovi said.

"I can't wait to see them," Kiku said, smiling. "You're a wonderful painter."

"Yeah, you're . . . the best," Herc said sleepily.

"Hey, haven't you said something about painting Ludwig back in 10th grade?" Mei said.

"Oh, yeah!" I said. "We took painting class together, and we painted each other!"

"Oh yeah, that's still above his bed," Gil said.

"I still have yours, too," I added to Ludwig.

"That's really sweet," Matt murmured. "And that was before you guys started dating . . . ?"

"It was always meant to be," Al said dramatically.

"Don't start with that fate stuff," Artie muttered.

"Look, history repeats itself, right? So—"

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

* * *

After lunch, I managed to get Ludwig alone for a bit and asked him something. He hesitated before saying yes.

* * *

"Lovi, Toni!"

I caught up to them just as they were getting their bikes. They looked up.

"Is something wrong?" Lovi said.

"Well," I said, "I asked Ludwig about it, and he said it was okay with him . . . do you guys wanna come with us on the seventeenth? For a double date? We're going to the Italian place Crisantemo!"

Lovi frowned. "I'm all for Italian, but . . . that seems like a weird name for an _Italian_ restaurant."

"Oh, I didn't even realize," I said in surprise. "I guess they didn't think about it. So do you guys wanna come? Uh, me and Ludwig are paying, so . . ."

"I'd love to," Toni said brightly. "Is it, um . . . a black-tie place?"

"No, jeans and T-shirt is good," I said. "It's not super-fancy or anything."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good," Lovi said. "That's . . . really nice. Thanks, Feli."

"Yeah, it's no problem," I said. "We'll pick you guys up at 6:30 or so!"

"We'll be ready by then," Toni said, grinning. "Seventeenth, right? Lovi, this counts as a birthday gift, is that okay?"

"I guess," Lovi muttered. He glanced at me. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll go get started on your portraits," I exclaimed, turning around. "See you later!"

* * *

 **Ah, quick heads-up: We're taking a small hiatus after chapter 35. Just a week's break. Week after that, normal updates will resume.**


	34. The Months, the Sketches, and the Suit

**Why do FFN and Google Docs give me like a 20-word difference for this chapter? I pasted this here and it said 693 words and then I added the linebreaks and saved it and it went up to 706 words?**

* * *

"Oh, hey, Ludwig," I said when he, Gil, and me got seated around the library table. "Lovi and Toni said okay for tomorrow!"

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

"What about tomorrow?" Gil said. He'd decided to sit in his chair backwards today.

"Ludwig and me are gonna go out for dinner and Lovi and Toni are coming, since it's Lovi's birthday, too," I said.

"Oh, yeah, that's a thing, I forgot," Gil said. "Cool! Can me and Mattie come?"

"Sur—"

"No," Ludwig said.

"Well, if Feli's bro gets to go—"

"This is for their birthday," Ludwig pointed out. "Your birthday's already happened."

"Well . . . still."

"If you want a double date, I bet you and Matt can go with Al and Mei," I suggested.

"Hey, good idea," Gil said, turning his chair back around the right way. "Ugh, I can't believe it's only _March_ , we've still got, like, six more months of school . . ."

"Three," Ludwig said.

"Yeah, but it's gonna _feel_ like six." Gil put his head in his hands. "God, I can't believe we're not gonna see each other every day next year."

"We can always visit," I said. "We don't live too far from each other!"

"Yeah, good point," Gil said, sitting up. "And I guess even if some of us are at college, we can come home for winter break and do the dinner thing!"

"That sounds nice," Ludwig said with a smile, glancing at me.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "We can go for karaoke or bowling again!"

"Karaoke was super fun, I vote that," Gil said. "And maybe they'll have built a new restaurant or something in the area, so we could check that out, you never know!"

"Why are we talking about plans that are _months_ away?" Ludwig asked.

"Because it's fun," I explained.

Ludwig shrugged. "Suit yourselves."

"I was thinking," I added to him, "do you wanna make flower crowns for each other when the weather gets warmer?"

"Yes," he said without a moment's hesitation.

"Luddie, I want a picture of you in that crown," Gil said.

Ludwig scowled at him.

"I want a picture, too," I said.

"Of course," he said, smiling.

"Oh, sure, give _him_ special treatment," Gil muttered. "It's not like I'm your brother or anything. What if Mei asked you for a picture? Would you give it to _her_?"

"You're the one who has malicious intentions," Ludwig muttered.

"Malicious?! I just want a picture of you! What's wrong with that? Also Feli, if that's okay."

"If you want!" I said cheerfully.

* * *

"Okay!" I said to myself. I looked between the canvases. I'd just finished sketching Lovi and Toni for the portraits. Lovi had never liked posing for pictures, but he'd said it was okay this time. It was nice to see him smiling in the picture.

I put away the stuff, figuring I could start painting day after tomorrow. In the meantime, I was getting hungry, so it was time to head home.

* * *

Eliza and I were eating some snacks together, sitting across from each other while stepfather practiced his piano down the hall.

"Eliza?" I said, quietly so stepfather wouldn't overhear. "Do you think it'd be okay to wear a dress tomorrow night?"

She glanced down the hall. "I'd like to say yes, but I don't think so," she murmured. "Roderich . . . you know how he is. He wouldn't let you wear that around the house, let alone allow you outside."

"Oh."

"Besides, I hate to say it, but a lot of places and people would give you some nasty looks wearing that in public," she added. "Things are nicer in this area than some places in regards to that, but still . . ."

She shook her head. "Maybe another time. As of now, it's safer to wear a suit."

"Okay," I said. "Oh, maybe when me and Ludwig get—" I glanced down the hall and dropped my voice. "Maybe when we get married, I can wear a dress to our wedding!"

Eliza smiled. "That sounds wonderful! Don't let anyone tell you what to wear at your own wedding."


	35. The Painting, the Pick-Up, and the

I straightened out my clothes in the mirror. I'd decided to go with a nice shirt and nice jeans for the evening, since Lovi and Toni were gonna wear something similar.

Then again, even if I didn't straighten my clothes, I was sure Ludwig would do it for me before we went into the building. I glanced at the portrait he'd painted for me, still hanging crooked above my bed. Speaking of straightening things . . . I glanced at the clock. I guess I had a few minutes to spare.

I leaned over my bed and adjusted the canvas so it was pretty much straight. I stepped back. Yeah, there we go! Finally fixed it!

I checked my clothes again and headed downstairs. Eliza was waiting near the door, and I spotted stepfather out on the couch.

"Bye, Eliza!" I said, hugging her.

"Bye, be safe," she said with a smile. I said bye to stepfather as I went out the door and got to the car.

* * *

I got to Ludwig's place and parked next to the driveway. He came out only a minute later.

"Hello," he said, smiling as he got in. He was wearing dress pants and a jacket. "Am I late?"

"No, I just got here!"

"That's good." He waved out the window at Gilbert, who was standing at the front door. I started up the car again and headed down the street.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I should have brought flowers, I just realized . . ."

"Oh, it's okay, no big deal," I said quickly. "This is more than enough!"

* * *

When we got to the apartment place, we had to wait a few minutes, but Lovi and Toni came out eventually.

"Hey, Feli, I—we really appreciate this," Lovi said as he and Toni shut their doors.

"You too, Ludwig," Toni added.

"No problem!" I said. Ludwig nodded.

"How far's the place?" Lovi asked.

I started up the car again and glanced around before backing out of the parking lot. "I think . . . twenty minutes?"

"Please tell me you know how to get there," Ludwig muttered.

"I know how to get to the area, so we're good," I said confidently.

"Good enough for me!" Toni declared. I heard Lovi sigh.

I started off down the street again.

* * *

The drive was taking forever. The stoplights, it seemed, believed that red was our favorite color and therefore kept showing it to us whenever we reached one. I heard Lovi sigh behind me and say, " _Fratello_ , how much longer is it?"

I turned around for a sec to smile and say, "Guess that depends on whether the lights are gonna be nice to us or not." I turned back around and checked the light. Still red. "Maybe you and Toni can play a game or something?"

"Mm. Nah."

"C'mon, Lovi, let's play a game," Toni said. I heard a slap; Lovi must've smacked Toni's hand away.

"What kind of game, even?" he muttered. "It's too dark to see street signs, so Alphabet's out."

"You could play punch-buggy," Ludwig suggested.

"Oh, good idea," Lovi exclaimed.

"I don't . . . Lovi, come on, let's not do any violent games like that," Toni said weakly.

I glanced at Ludwig and smiled. He always looked so good, no matter what kind of lighting there was, even with only streetlights like now. I kinda wondered if fate was real . . . after all, me and Ludwig got separated not long after we'd met, but we'd managed to find each other again eventually . . .

"What is it?" he asked, glancing at me.

"Nothing," I said, smiling and looking back.

The light finally changed to green and I moved forward, checking the clock on the dashboard. As I pressed on the gas pedal and moved past the light, there was a sudden, loud engine noise coming from ahead of us in the next lane over. A car swerved wildly and suddenly into our path.

The headlights blinded us.

So bright.

Blinding.

. . .

Crash.


	36. Now We Wait

**Narrator: No one (third-person)**

* * *

When the second car hit, Lovino and Antonio had been thrown by the shock, knocking them unconscious for a minute. When they came to, the first thing they saw was Feliciano, slumped over the steering wheel, the airbag deflating. Next to him, Ludwig's head was on his shoulder. Neither stirred.

"Feli, oh my god, Feli," Lovino exclaimed, shaking his head. He leaned forward and gently shook Feliciano's shoulder. "Feli, are you okay? Shit, come on, answer me . . ."

"Feli?" Antonio whispered. "Ludwig?"

"Oh, god," Lovino murmured, staring into space. "Oh no, oh god, not again, please not again—"

He bowed his head, clutching himself as his breath grew quicker.

"Lovi?"

He flinched at the touch on his shoulder.

"Lovi, it's okay," Antonio murmured. "They're fine, they're gonna be fine, they're just unconscious, someone's gotta call 911—"

Already the cars were being surrounded by pedestrians. Antonio managed to get both Lovino and himself unbuckled, and they were helped out of the car.

"Are you okay?"  
"Should we move those two?"  
"I called an ambulance, they'll be here soon—"

"I think we're okay," Antonio announced, holding Lovino comfortingly, though his own hands trembled. "I dunno if they should be moved yet . . ." He stole a glance at Feliciano and Ludwig, who remained still.

"You kids need a cell phone? Wanna call your folks?"

Antonio stiffened. "I—no, we should call them later—don't worry about it."

They were able to sit by the car. Lovino put his head on his knees while Antonio rubbed his back.

"Do you need anything?"

He shook his head.

* * *

The ambulance arrived soon in a blur of flashing lights and sirens. Antonio and Lovino were escorted to the hospital after being checked over by emergency medics, who said they should be checked over again in the emergency room.

The ER was surprisingly empty. Lovino had recovered from his panic attack and managed to tell the staff the number of the Edelsteins; Ludwig's wallet had proved to hold his home phone as an emergency contact number.

Lovino squirmed and Antonio fidgeted as they were looked over by the nurses and doctors. Once given mild painkillers, they were informed that Feliciano and Ludwig were still being taken care of, and would not be allowed visitors until close to midnight or the next morning.

They went out to the waiting room and sat in the nearest chairs. Antonio took Lovino's hand and squeezed it.

"This isn't fair," Lovino whispered. "If Feli—if he doesn't—I can't lose _him,_ too—"

"He's gonna be fine," Antonio murmured. "He's tough."

* * *

" _What?"_

Roderich looked up from his book to see Elizabeth clutching the phone in a white-knuckled grip.

"Yes . . . yes," she murmured. "We're—we're on our way, we'll be there, thank you—"

She hung up and turned to Roderich, her face pale as a sheet.

"Feli was in a car crash," she whispered, her hands clenched by her sides.

" _What?!"_

"He's at the hospital with his friends—" She brought a hand up to her mouth. "Oh, my god—"

Roderich cursed under his breath and stood. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "Roderich, we have to go see him—"

"I know! How are we going to get there without a car?!"

"There's a bus stop nearby, but we should hurry, it's coming in a few minutes—!"

A moment's hesitation and Elizabeth turned and hurried for the door, shoving her shoes on. Roderich shook off his surprise that she hadn't waited for him and hurried along after her.

* * *

"What's up, _Vati?"_ Gilbert asked, pushing around his mashed potatoes with his fork.

Rainer turned to face him and Mei once he'd hung up the phone.

"We have to go," he said abruptly. "Ludwig's been in a car crash."

Gilbert's eyes widened and Mei gasped.

"Holy shit, what?" Gilbert whispered.

"He's at the hospital right now with his friends," Rainer continued. "If you two are coming, grab your jackets and shoes _now_."

He headed for the garage door, and Mei and Gilbert followed him when they heard it open.

* * *

Antonio and Lovino looked up at the sound of the doors opening to see Roderich and Elizabeth coming in. Elizabeth hurried to them the moment she spotted them and began looking them over.

"Oh, Lovi, Antonio, it's so good to see you, I just wish it wasn't _here_ —are either of you hurt?" she demanded, hugging them regardless. It was clear she'd cried on the way there.

"We're okay, Mrs. Edelstein," Antonio exclaimed.

"Hi, Eliza," Lovino whispered, blinking away tears.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen—"

They turned around when Roderich cleared his throat.

"Lovino," he said coolly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the car crash with Feli, if you didn't know," Lovino snapped, his hands curling into fists on his lap.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my family," Roderich said.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_ , does that mean I can't be in the same fucking hospital as you?" Lovino demanded, rising from his seat. Elizabeth straightened up next to him. "How many feet do I have to stay away from you? Got a yardstick handy so I can measure it out?"

"Do _not_ talk to me that way."

"Do you two have insurance?" Elizabeth asked, turning back to them. "We'll pay for you if you don't—"

"Really?" Antonio blurted out. "Thank you so much, I was worried about that—"

"We most certainly aren't paying for _them_ ," Roderich exclaimed. "They have no business being near—"

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Elizabeth yelled.

At this, Roderich was so startled he really did fall silent. Lovino looked at Elizabeth in admiration while Antonio took interest in a potted plant nearby. Elizabeth strode to the counter, apologized to the receptionist, and began having a quiet conversation about giving insurance information, as well as paying for Antonio and Lovino.

As Roderich, his expression stony, sat far from Antonio and Lovino, and Lovino sat again, another noise made them all look up. Rainer, Gilbert, and Mei had entered.

"Hi," Gilbert said, weakly raising a hand in greeting. He glanced at Roderich. "Bad time?"

"No, c'mon and sit," Antonio offered. Gilbert and Mei sat next to Antonio and Lovino respectively.

"You guys were in the car, right?" Gilbert said eventually. "You okay?"

"Got some painkillers, nothing serious," Lovino mumbled.

"How are Ludwig and Feli?" Mei murmured. Rainer stood near the wall, waiting for Eliza to finish.

Lovino clenched his jaw and stared at the floor.

"Dunno," Antonio said bleakly with a shrug. "Doctors said no visits right now. They were—they've been unconscious since—"

He shook his head.

" _Gottverdammt,"_ Gilbert whispered. "They'd better be okay . . . damn it . . ."

His hands were clenched at his sides. Antonio gave him an awkward one-armed hug, while Mei placed a hand on Lovino's leg comfortingly.

Eliza finished at the counter and, after stealing a glance at those four, went to sit by Roderich. He glanced to her and murmured something, but she shook her head. He bit his lip and stared at the floor.

* * *

Once Rainer had finished giving information, a nurse entered the room and informed everyone Feliciano and Ludwig would be allowed visitors the following day. Both were still unconscious, they said, but it was too early to declare either in a coma.


	37. Good News

**Narrator: No one (third-person)**

* * *

"Hey, Artie," Alfred said, throwing his stuff to his desk in the English classroom. Arthur looked up from his book. "Did Gil text you about what happened?"

"He doesn't have my number," Arthur said, "and _you_ texted me about it after Gilbert texted _you_ and Matthew."

"Oh, I forgot," Alfred mumbled. "Anyway . . . yeah. God, I hope they're okay . . ."

"Francis was really upset," Arthur added. "I told him about it after you told me."

"I texted Herc about it, so he probably told Kiku," Alfred said. "Wow, lunch is gonna suck."

"If Gilbert or Lovino's here today, we can ask about visiting them," Arthur suggested. "I don't know what that hospital's policy on visits is, but . . ."

"Yeah, sounds good," Alfred agreed. "We can sneak in or something if they won't let us."

"You know, that's not a bad idea . . ."

* * *

Alfred, Antonio, Arthur, Francis, Gilbert, Hercules, Kiku, Lovino, Matthew, and Mei met up for lunch at their usual table.

"Is everything . . . I mean, how are they?" Matthew murmured, his voice just above a whisper.

Gilbert made a face. "Nothing new so far," he muttered. "Last we heard, they were still unconscious."

"The hospital said visitors were okay for today," Antonio offered, lifting his head slightly. "Lovi and me, our boss said—we called in, confirmed what happened, he said we could take this week off."

"Wait," Arthur said, "you and Lovino were—?"

The others looked up at Antonio and Lovino expectantly.

Antonio nodded. "It was—we were on a double date," he explained. "Lovi and me hit our heads, but the doctors said we were okay."

"'s not fair," Lovino muttered, hands clenched on the table. "We get away fine, but Feli and Ludwig—don't even know their condition—"

He let out a shaky breath. "And even when we visit, that asshole's probably going to be there, looking at me like something on someone's shoe—"

"Feli's stepfather?" Mei said. "Don't worry about him. He seems like a douchebag."

Alfred and Gilbert stared at her.

"What?"

"Him being a douche _is_ the problem," Lovino muttered, staring at the table.

"Before I forget," Alfred said, raising a hand, "real quick, I'm sorry about that, and he does seem like a douche, I agree, I was just wondering if it'd be okay to come with you guys to visit them?"

"Seconded," Arthur added, raising Francis's hand with his own.

"I'm not sure . . . I could make it today," Hercules murmured, head resting in his arms.

"Oh, I was going to ask you—" Kiku said, looking around nervously. "I would like to go regardless . . ."

Hercules shrugged. "I'm not offended."

"Guys, it's totally fine," Gilbert said. "Right, Toni, Lovino?"

They nodded.

* * *

"Oh, holy fuck," Gilbert exclaimed.

"Is something wrong, Gilbert?"

He looked up at the teacher. He, Francis, and Matthew were in English, their final class of the day.

"Sorry, I'll keep it down," he said, raising a hand sheepishly. She turned around and he showed Francis and Matthew his phone.

"Ludwig woke up?" Francis whispered, reading the text from Rainer.

"Yeah, thank god," Gilbert whispered. He grinned. "Holy shit, that's a load off my chest—"

"Gilbert?"

"Sorry, ma'am!"

* * *

Rainer picked up Gilbert and Mei directly from school to go to the hospital. Lovino and Antonio showed up not long after on their bikes.

Once cleared at the desk, Rainer, Gilbert, and Mei went down the hall and found their way to the ward. Ludwig was sitting up in bed, two I.V.s stuck in him. His head was bandaged and a few bruises decorated his shoulders.

"Luddie, hey," Gilbert said with a broad grin, sitting next to Mei while Rainer sat on the opposite side. "How you feeling?"

"Numb and tired," Ludwig mumbled with a weak smile. "These drugs are working, I'll give them . . . that."

"How has everything been?" Rainer asked. "Do you need anything?"

Ludwig attempted a shrug, but winced and gave up. "Nothing I don't have."

The bed next to them was separated by a curtain, but they heard movement and glanced over. A moment later, someone poked their head around.

"Oh, you're here," Antonio said in surprise. "Hey, Ludwig! How are you doing?"

Ludwig made a face. "Are you and . . . Lovino fine? I'm sorry about . . ."

"We're fine," Antonio said, coming around. "I'm sorry you and Feli had to . . . well, take all the impact. Lovi and me got away with some head bumps. You're gonna be okay, right?"

"As soon as they take these bandages off and these needles out," Ludwig muttered.

"What are you two doing over there?" Mei added.

"Well—Feli's here."

Ludwig's breath seemed to halt entirely. "Is he—?"

Rainer, Gilbert, and Mei looked over as Antonio went behind the curtain, murmured something, and pulled it back.

Feliciano lay still on his bed, eyes closed and a nasal cannula in his nostrils. He showed no sign of consciousness, even as Lovino sat near his head, watching him as if he could wake him with his mind.

"Doctors aren't sure when he'll wake up," Antonio murmured.

Ludwig stared at Feliciano, his breath rather shallow.

"Feli," he whispered in a broken voice.

"Bad time?"

Everyone looked around to see Alfred, Matthew, Arthur, and Francis entering the hallway.

"Hey," Antonio said with a small smile. "You guys wanna sit?"

Arthur looked around. "There aren't any more chairs."

"Take my seat, then—" Antonio stood.

"Mattie, you can sit on my lap," Gilbert offered.

"I'm good . . ."

Alfred looked at Mei hopefully.

"You're too heavy," she said flatly.

"Aw."

"I'm going to get some water," Rainer announced, standing. "Woe be it to me if my seat is stolen while I'm gone."

He left the hallway and Alfred seized the opportunity to sit.

"What's new?" he asked Ludwig, throwing a glance at Feliciano and Lovino.

"I'm taking a nap as soon as everyone's gone," Ludwig muttered, stealing another glance at Feliciano.

"Alright, that's cool, you could nap now, I don't think we care."

"Arthur?"

The others surreptitiously glanced up as Francis spoke quietly.

"I hate to ask, but . . ." He waved his hand. "You don't think you could . . . ?"

"Something like that?" Arthur murmured. "No, I'm afraid not. There are different kinds of magic, and I'm barely proficient at one or two kinds, let alone a master of all. This is like asking . . . a knitter to perform brain surgery."

"I see," Francis murmured. He realized the others were staring—even Lovino had looked up. "What?"

"Okay, no offense, but now's not the time for magic jokes," Gilbert said. "Luddie's got some serious injuries."

"It's not a joke," Arthur muttered, pulling out his wand. "And I wish I could help the healing process, but it's best to let the real doctors take care of it."

"Taking out a toy . . . doesn't mean anything," Ludwig mumbled.

Arthur motioned for Alfred to stand up. Once he did, Arthur pointed his wand at the free chair and muttered something. The chair floated a foot off the ground and wobbled through the air over to Arthur, who caught it and raised his eyebrows at the wide-eyed stares he received.

"Okay," Gilbert said at last. "I'm stepping down from everything. That was pretty cool."

"These drugs are really strong," Ludwig murmured.

"Dude, if that was drugs, we're _all_ high as fuck," Alfred said. "Artie, why didn't you ever tell me? We're cousins!"

"I told you all _so_ many times and you never believed me," Arthur pointed out. "Not my fault."

"He's got a point," Matthew murmured.

"Can I have my chair back?" Alfred added. "Unless it's tainted."

"It's not _tainted_ , here you go," Arthur muttered, handing it over.

"I can see faeries now," Francis said helpfully. "Something about a strong connection to a wizard."

"Okay," Mei said, holding up her hands. "I think that's enough weird stuff for the day."

"Fair enough."

Lovino cleared his throat. "So—you said you _can't_ help heal Feli?" he said, looking at Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. "I've never done anything like _this_. It's too risky, things would likely end up worse . . ."

"Right," Lovino whispered. "Okay."

He seemed to be holding back tears as he looked back at Feliciano, so still in the bed. Antonio went over to comfort him.

Rainer returned and Mei stood, but he shook his head and she sat back down.

"—Oh!"

The party turned once more to see Kiku, followed closely by Roderich and Elizabeth.

"Am I late?" Kiku asked. He held a bouquet of lilies.

"Nah, but we don't have more chairs," Gilbert said. "Nice flowers. Hey, Mrs. Edelstein."

"Hello," Elizabeth said distractedly, smiling at Ludwig before going to Feliciano's bed. "Lovino, Antonio—"

They glanced up as Roderich joined her.

"I'm ready to leave," Lovino said abruptly. "Toni?"

"I—if you want," Antonio said, startled. "Wanna come back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, soon as possible. Sorry, Eliza."

With one last look at Feliciano and a wave to the others, Lovino and Antonio left the ward.

"Good thing, too," Roderich muttered, taking their chairs for himself and Elizabeth. "They don't have any busin—"

A fiery glare from Elizabeth startled him into silence. Gilbert grinned vindictively.

* * *

Despite efforts to stay awake, Ludwig fell asleep partway through the visit. Alfred, Matthew, Arthur, and Francis departed not long after this. Kiku was the next to leave.

Rainer, Gilbert, Mei, Roderich, and Elizabeth stayed for another hour or so. Around this time, a member of the staff stopped by to inform them visiting hours would end soon.

Rainer, Gilbert, and Mei wished Roderich and Elizabeth farewell, and smiled to Ludwig before leaving. Roderich and Elizabeth left shortly after. Neither spoke to each other.


	38. Snippets of Life

**Narrator: No one (third-person)**

* * *

"Hey, Luddie," Gilbert said, plopping himself onto a chair. "How's hospital life?"

It had been three days since his first visit. Feliciano's bed was once again separated by a curtain.

Ludwig, looking much better, squinted at him. "Where are _Vater_ and Mei? What time is it?"

"Way to answer a question with more questions," Gilbert said, grinning. "I guess they're at home, and it is approximately thirteen hundred hours."

"So . . . shouldn't you be in school?"

" _Should_ is a strong word."

Ludwig closed his eyes and leaned against his pillow with a long sigh. "Don't tell me you walked here."

"Why would I when I can steal a bike?"

Ludwig opened his eyes and stared at him.

Gilbert grinned. "I'm kidding. I took a bus. C'mon, you should be flattered! Here I am, taking precious time away from my education to visit you—"

"You'll skip class at _any_ opportunity," Ludwig pointed out. "You've done it to climb a roof."

"Only twice, and I don't do that anymore."

"Because the ladder's no good."

"Exactly. Now if you would answer my question, how is life? Seriously, I didn't sit next to weirdos for nothing."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "I'm just fine. If I wasn't in bed I could bench-press you twenty times."

"Oh, awesome, for real?!" Gilbert exclaimed. "When do you think you'll be out?"

Ludwig gave him a small shrug. "Soon, I hope. My . . . I wasn't hurt badly. A concussion's not too bad."

"You sure?"

Another shrug. "I'm feeling better. I don't know what you want."

"I _want_ my little bro to come home so I can dish out a proper hug!"

"Mm-hm."

Now Gilbert glanced to where Feliciano lay behind the curtain.

"Any news with Feli?" he murmured.

Ludwig pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Not . . . that I'm aware of. His stepparents have come in every afternoon to visit."

"Hope he wakes up soon."

* * *

Matthew and Francis sat in the library together during their free period. Francis was staring off into space as Matthew struggled to focus on his homework.

After a moment, Matthew gave up, setting his pencil down and adjusting his glasses.

"Can you really see fairies?" he asked.

Francis nodded.

"Are there any . . . _here?"_

He looked around and shook his head. "The ones I see are usually Arthur's friends, although . . . I _did_ see a few pixies in a tree the other day, if that's the right term."

"It must be . . . very strange," Matthew murmured.

Francis grinned. "It is, but I'm glad I can see what he sees."

"I wish . . ." Matthew sighed. "I wish . . . I'd believed Arthur, all those times he talked about magic . . ."

"I didn't believe him, either," Francis admitted. "I thought I was hallucinating when he showed me."

"That's understandable."

"How's Alfred taking it?"

Matthew smiled. "He got over the shock, and now he thinks it's the best thing ever that magic is real. He's upset he can't see fairies, and I think he was going to ask Arthur about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he forgot."

"He's in for a disappointment," Francis remarked. "I think Arthur said having the Sight is mostly genetic."

"Hm . . ."

* * *

"AND I-I-I-I-I . . . WILL A-A-A-ALWAYS LOVE YOU-U-U-U-U . . ."

A knock made Alfred turn around, and he saw Matthew standing in the hall.

"Yo, Mattie," he said, waving the spoon he was using as a microphone. "You wanna join the karaoke party?"

"I was . . . gonna ask you to keep it down, if that's okay," Matthew murmured. "I was trying to nap."

"Oh, yeah, cool. I'll sing something softer. You sure you don't wanna join?"

"Another time."

"Sweet."

Another knock made them both look around. Alfred put the spoon in his mouth and went to the door, throwing it open carelessly.

He stared, and Matthew stared, and the people outside smiled.

"Oh," Alfred said around the spoon. "Hey, mom. Hey, dad."

* * *

Kiku waited at the top of the monkey bars as Hercules finally swung his way up through the gaps.

"I'm surprised that wasn't easy for you," he remarked as Hercules positioned himself. "You're very strong . . ."

Hercules shrugged. "Strong, maybe . . . not too flexible. You, on the other hand . . . I didn't know you were so . . . monkey-like."

Kiku smiled. "It's a secret talent."

"You got up here . . . in five seconds."

"Don't share the secret or I'll lose my power."

* * *

"You're very interested in medical magic all of a sudden," Rowan remarked, peering at the book Arthur pored over.

Arthur shrugged. "If I do end up becoming a cop, who knows who I might have to heal?"

"This is because of your friends in the hospital, isn't it?"

Another shrug.

"You do know most medical magics require proficient potion-making skills?"

Arthur sighed and shut the book.

* * *

 _Don't tell_ me _to leave a message, you son of a—fuck, there's the beep—I mean, hey, Mei! Guess what? Apparently mom and dad are actually staying here for at least a month, or so they said, so I don't have to cook the mac n' cheese anymore, for now. So that's cool. Mattie's sleeping, mom and dad asked me if he's doing fine, I said usual, and then I thought, "Shit, maybe they don't know what usual is." I mean, that's their own fault, so whatever, right? Call me back, let's set up a date or something, and lemme know how things are over there! See you later! . . . Alright, cool, back to dancing. Wait, shit, I didn't hit the button—_

Mei smiled and shut off her phone, resolving to call Alfred back after dinner.

* * *

Lovino and Antonio sat by Feliciano's bed, having come as soon as school was out. Antonio held Lovino's hand for comfort while Lovino's eyes were either cast down or trained on Feliciano's face. Ludwig was sleeping in the adjacent bed, and his own family had just gone home.

They looked up at movement—Elizabeth and Roderich had come by again.

"Do you want to go?" Antonio murmured, but Lovino shook his head.

Elizabeth smiled at them in greeting, and stony silence remained between Lovino and Roderich.

"Why are you holding hands?" Roderich said, abruptly breaking the silence.

"Why do you care?" Lovino muttered.

"There are some strange trends nowadays," Roderich said, pushing up his glasses, "things I don't care to see right in front of me—"

"Yeah? You don't like it? I'll damn well _kiss_ him in front of you, I don't give a—"

" _What?"_ Roderich exclaimed. Elizabeth side-eyed him.

Antonio swallowed with a nervous smile. "Sir, we've, uh . . . been . . ." He glanced at Lovino, who was past caring. "We've been dating for about two years. As in kissing."

The face Roderich made was as if he'd smelled something rotting.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" he hissed. "Homosexuals are—"

"Bisexual," Lovino muttered.

"That's even _worse!_ If you can choose between a nice young lady or a man, why would you—?!"

"Uh, sir?" Antonio piped up. "It's not really your business, especially seeing how we don't live with you."

Roderich clenched his hands. "I don't want anything to do with—"

"Roderich?" Elizabeth said.

" _What?"_

"I want a divorce."

He was at a loss for words.

"Let's go," she said, standing. "Lovi, Antonio, I'm sorry about that. I'll be back tomorrow."

She gave Roderich a cold look and left the room.

"Elizabeth?" Roderich said blankly. "I—wait—"

He hurried after her, leaving Lovino and Antonio with Feliciano.


	39. Progress

**Narrator: No one (third-person)**

* * *

Gilbert and Mei looked Ludwig up and down with big grins. Nearly a week after the crash, he had finally been deemed fit to come home.

"So," Gilbert said, "can I give you a hug, or are you still fragile?"

Ludwig eyed him. "Since when was I fragile?"

Before Gilbert could respond, Mei stepped forward and wrapped Ludwig in a tight hug.

"Gil, you have to just go in for it," she said patiently.

"Oh, that is _so_ not fair," Gilbert exclaimed, flinging his arms around and squeezing both of them.

"Get _off_ ," Ludwig muttered with a smile.

"Yo, this reminds me, I gotta ask Mattie something tomorrow," Gilbert said suddenly.

"How's Feli?" Mei asked once they'd both pulled away.

Ludwig's smile faded as he glanced down. "They aren't sure i—when he'll wake up."

"He's gonna be okay, Luddie," Gilbert said firmly. "Let's visit him during school tomorrow."

"I think you mean _after_ school."

"I know what I said!"

* * *

Ludwig was greeted with high-fives and hugs when he returned to school, and the lunch table, though still void of Feliciano's peppy attitude, was brighter than it had been the entire past week.

"Hey," Francis said. "Arthur, Herc . . ."

They glanced over.

"You two aren't . . . _related_ , are you?"

They glanced at each other.

"No?" Hercules said at last. "Why'd . . . you ask?"

"Your eyes look exactly alike and it's very unnerving."

They looked at each other again as the others leaned over to get a better look at their eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I think Feli—" Gilbert paused and glanced tentatively at Ludwig. "Uh, yeah, Feli said something like that earlier this year. About the portraits—he said he can do Artie's and Herc's back-to-back because you guys have the same skin tone and eyes."

"It's just a coincidence," Arthur said. "We're not related. If we were related, it would probably be very distant, so that doesn't really count anyway."

"Are you _lying?"_ Alfred asked suspiciously.

"No," Arthur and Hercules said together.

"Okay."

"You accept it that easily?" Lovi muttered.

* * *

"Okay, Mattie," Gilbert said. He and Matthew lay on Matthew's bedroom floor. "I've kinda been wanting to ask you for a while, and then the whole car crash thing happened . . . and this sounds dumb, but it, like, made me realize I gotta ask you soon as possible, y'know? I just wanted to wait until I knew Luddie was okay and out of the hospital."

"I understand," Matthew murmured. "So, what is it?"

"Will you marry me?"

Matthew sat up and stared at Gilbert, eyes wide and mouth covered in shock.

"Wait, before you answer—" Gilbert sat up as well, though he nervously looked to the floor. "I don't mean, like, right _now_ , 'cause you're going to college next year, right? I'm just asking for when we're ready to live together, financially stable, all that. And when it happens, it doesn't have to be a big ceremony if you don't want it to be—we could just sign a few papers, get the rings, that's it—if you want."

He paused for breath and looked back up at Matthew.

"Holy fuck, are you crying?" he exclaimed. He reached out a hesitant hand. "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up, you don't have to say yes if you—"

With a small sob, Matthew nodded.

"I'll marry you," he whispered. "Once we've—what you said."

Gilbert grinned, leaned forward, and hugged Matthew, their awkward positions sending them to the floor again.

* * *

Elizabeth was quick to act on her word, talking to a lawyer within a few days about filing for a divorce. Roderich's attempts to appease her (some of the most noteable things he'd done in regards to their relationship) went appreciated but ultimately ignored.

* * *

"HOLY FUCK!"

Matthew winced. "Don't shout . . ."

"Sorry, but—he _proposed?!"_

Matthew nodded.

"Holy shit," Alfred said, grinning. "Holy shit, I can't believe my little bro's gonna get married before me—!"

"We're twins, and I'm not getting married for a while. We're just . . . engaged right now."

" _Still!"_ Alfred hugged Matthew around the middle. "Have you told mom and dad yet?! They're gonna be so happy, oh my god—"

"Not yet, no."

"I'll tell them! HEY, MOM, DAD!"

" _Alfred!"_

* * *

"Ah . . ."

Lovino and Antonio looked up to see Ludwig sitting across from them. Feliciano lay on the bed between them.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Ludwig murmured, adjusting his chair.

"'S fine," Lovino muttered.

An awkward moment of silence passed.

"Hey . . ."

Antonio and Ludwig looked to Lovino, who stared at Ludwig.

"I approve of you and Feli."

Ludwig smiled and looked down. "Since when did we need your approval?"

Lovino folded his arms.

"Well . . . thank you."

He looked back to Feliciano.

"Feli . . . do you want to hear about what's been going on?"

Silence. Antonio and Lovino looked at Ludwig quizzically.

"Gilbert proposed to Matthew," Ludwig continued. "He said they won't get married for a while, but they're officially engaged. Isn't that great?"

Antonio smiled. "Hey, Feli, guess what? Lovino and I had to go back to work, but we got a raise! Maybe one day we can afford a better apartment!"

"I—" Lovino swallowed and smiled. "I've been trying to write a story. What if I got it published? Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Mei's been doing a lot better lately," Ludwig added. "It shouldn't be a surprise she and Gilbert get along so well, since she _is_ dating Alfred . . . I still don't know how that happened."

"It turns out Arthur's magic thing really is real," Antonio exclaimed. "It's so cool! Francis said he can see fairies now, I'm really jealous!"

"The weather's getting warmer," Lovino said, leaning in. "Once you're better, we—we'll go to the park or something, okay?"

"Don't forget about the flower crowns!"

"We should all go, shouldn't we? Another thing to do before we graduate, right?"

"Feli, get better soon . . . !"


	40. Time Marches On

**Narrator: No one (third-person)**

* * *

Ludwig watched Feliciano, who breathed peacefully, unaware of his surroundings. Over two weeks had passed now since the crash.

"Oh . . ."

He looked up to see Elizabeth entering. She sat on the other side of the bed.

"Afternoon," he said politely.

"Good to see you," she said with a smile. "How was school?"

He shrugged. "If you don't mind, where's . . . ?"

"Roderich?" she said. "Oh, he's at the house. He was napping when I left. I suppose he'll visit later, or tomorrow."

"I see."

He turned his gaze back to Feliciano. A moment's hesitation and he placed his hand gently within Feliciano's, squeezing ever-so-gently.

* * *

"I still can't believe you guys are _engaged_ ," Alfred exclaimed at lunchtime. "I mean, way to put pressure on the rest of us."

Gilbert and Matthew glanced at each other.

"Again, we're not getting married _yet,_ " Matthew said.

"I know, but still—also, before I forget, Artie, you totally cheated in that snowball fight."

"You said magic was allowed," Francis pointed out.

Alfred folded his arms. "That's 'cause I thought it wasn't real, but then _you_ pull that bullshit with exploding the snow forts—also! Teach me how to be a wizard!"

"Why?!" Arthur exclaimed. "You made fun of me for believing in magic up until now! Plus, you can't _teach_ someone without innate potential!"

"I don't know what anal potential is, I'm just saying I want to be a wizard!"

"He's saying you have to be born with the ability," Ludwig said. "Right?"

" _Thank_ you," Arthur muttered in exasperation.

"Okay, so why were _you_ born with it and not _me_?" Alfred exclaimed. "And, uh, sorry for making fun. Seriously though, why—?"

"Because my mom was a wizard and my dad wasn't," Arthur said patiently. "Which makes _me_ a demi-wizard, which means I can use a magic wand."

"This is the most weird conversation I've ever seen," Kiku remarked.

"I still don't get how—"

"Look, if we're going to get into talking about your parents and mine, can we do it later?" Arthur snapped.

"Okay, yeah, sure."

"Arthur, I've been meaning to ask you," Francis said, turning to him, "what exactly is Sage?"

"A plant or a wise dude, right?" Gilbert said.

"No one really knows," Arthur admitted to Francis. "She seems to be one of a kind."

* * *

Kiku sat next to Hercules on the bench. The weather was lovely and warm that day, and people could be seen strolling through the park or laying out blankets to rest.

"Oh, I'm . . ."

Kiku glanced over to see Hercules's eyes slip shut and his head tip onto his shoulder. He adjusted his position to get more comfortable and placed his hand into the warm, strong one next to him.

* * *

"Hey."

Ludwig, Gilbert, and Mei looked up to see Lovino and Antonio enter and sit across from him.

"Yo," Gilbert said with a wave. Mei smiled and Ludwig nodded in greeting, turning back to gaze at Feliciano, lying still in his bed.

"Just got off work," Antonio announced. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Less than an hour," Ludwig said. "We had to finish homework before this."

"You mean _you_ had to finish homework," Gilbert corrected.

"I thought you finished yours, too?" Mei said in surprise.

Gilbert shrugged. "Finished, not finished, not started . . . it's all relative, man, all relative."

" _Vater_ might yell at you later," Ludwig muttered.

Another shrug. "There's this thing called 'lying,' Luddie."

Ludwig ignored him, touching Feliciano's nearest hand in silence.

* * *

"God, I can't believe April's here already . . ."

"Yeah," Antonio said, glancing up from where he lay on the couch. "Lovi, you know what April is?"

Lovino, sitting at the table, looked up in thought. "Fourth month, April showers . . . I dunno."

"April is the perfect month to get a pet turtle."

Lovino stood, went to the couch, and seized Antonio's cheeks between his fingers.

"We are _not_ getting a turtle."

"But we totally are," Antonio mumbled, voice altered from his cheeks being pulled. "Lemme go . . ."

"We're barely getting by as it is! The turtle would cost money, and then we'd have to get food and stuff—"

"Okay, once we can _afford_ it we'll get a turtle," Antonio mumbled. Lovino finally released him and climbed up to lay next to him.

"Feli would probably like a turtle."

"Hm?" Antonio murmured.

"Or a cat. Something cute."

"So you do admit they're cute."

* * *

Alfred and Matthew stared up at Arthur and Francis, who sat cross-legged on Arthur's magic carpet, floating just out of reach. The four were in the forest behind Arthur's house—Alfred and Matthew had been invited to drop by after Alfred's insisting that he wanted to see more magic.

"Holy shit," Alfred said at last. "Artie, where did you even _get_ that?"

"Remember in ninth grade, when I disappeared for two weeks?"

Alfred nodded.

"I was acquiring this."

Matthew raised his hand. "What does 'acquire' mean in this context?"

"It means 'That's a very long story and I might tell you later but not right now.'"

"Can we ride?" Alfred asked hopefully.

Arthur glanced to the side. "Uh, nope. You need to be . . . pure of heart."

"Excuse me?! Who's purer than me?"

"Let me do a spell to check." Arthur pulled out his wand and pointed it at Alfred and Matthew. "Yep, sorry, neither of you are allowed."

"You didn't even say anything," Matthew murmured suspiciously.

"Wait, so _Francis_ is pure of heart but _I'm_ not?" Alfred exclaimed indignantly.

"I don't make the rules," Arthur said innocently. Francis side-eyed him.

"Do you think we could visit Hagrid this summer?" he asked suddenly. "I'd be able to see him now, wouldn't I?"

"Good idea!" Arthur exclaimed. "We should bring protection, just in case—"

"Who the hell is Hagrid?" Alfred demanded. "Are you saying giants are real?"

* * *

Ludwig ignored his phone as it buzzed for the third time. He had skipped school before lunch, taking a bus to the hospital instead.

Feliciano slept on.

"Feli . . . we miss you."

Ludwig bit his lip.

"I miss you."

No reaction. Feliciano's eyes remained peacefully closed as the heart monitor beeped steadily next to him.

Ludwig bowed his head and took Feliciano's hand in his own, squeezing ever-so-gently.

"I love you . . ."

A gentle squeeze, but not from Ludwig.

He looked up. Feliciano's eyes were open, and he turned his head.

He smiled.


	41. The Return, the Hug, and the Relaxation

**Narrator: Feliciano**

* * *

"And . . . there he is!"

Al let out a cheer as I wheeled myself over the metal threshold and into the room. It'd been so long since I'd come to school!

"How are you doing?" Artie asked, setting down his book and standing. "Do you need help?"

"I got it," I said, wheeling myself over to my desk. The chair from it was already out of the way. "And I'm doing good! I'm pretty much used to using this now!"

"Sweet beans, man," Al exclaimed. "Do your legs hurt at all, or . . . ?"

"Not right now," I said, adjusting my position and reaching around to take my backpack off of the wheelchair's handles. "They hurt when I'm doing exercises, but the doctor said they'll probably get stronger if I keep doing them, so I won't have to use this as much!"

"You won't have to repeat this year, will you?" Artie asked as he sat back down. "You've missed almost two months of class."

" _Wow_ , Artie, way to kill the mood," Al muttered.

"As long as I do good through this month and then June, I can graduate," I said, remembering what Eliza had said.

"Yeah, we really don't get a lot of homework at the end of the year, do we?" Al said thoughtfully. "Guess they wanted to give us a break, or whatever."

"How're things at home, dude?" Al asked me. "Your stepmom divorced your stepdad, didn't she?"

"She did," I said, remembering how surprised I'd been when I found out. "I think they're finishing up the official stuff, and me and Eliza are gonna work out where to live when we get our stuff packed."

"How do you feel about it, if you don't mind the question?" Artie asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think I'll miss stepfather," I admitted. "He was really happy when he found out I was awake, but he didn't really take it well when he found out I was dating Ludwig."

"Probably better to get away from him, then," Al remarked.

Artie took out his wand.

"Whoa, no cursing, okay?" Al exclaimed. "What did I do?"

"I wasn't going to _curse_ anyone," Artie muttered, exasperated. "Give me a second."

He raised it and pointed it at the whiteboard. A marker lifted into the air and uncapped itself. He'd done something similar at the hospital to show me magic, but it was still so cool!

"Oh, shit, you're _writing_ something," Al whispered as the marker moved across the whiteboard.

A minute later, the marker recapped itself and was set gently on the edge of the board. Artie dropped his wand with a sigh. In wobbly writing, the board now read, "Welcome back, Feli!"

* * *

I was a little late to math, but Mr. Laurinaitis said it was okay. He gave me some worksheets to do so I could catch up on what I'd missed. We almost never had homework in health class, so that went okay.

"Hi, Feli," Matt exclaimed as I got into history class. "How are you?"

He moved his stuff to sit in the back with me. I told him the same stuff I'd told Al and Artie.

"That's good," he whispered as class started. "We had a project due, but it wasn't very hard."

"I don't like projects," I mumbled.

"I'll help if you need it."

* * *

"Holy _shit_ , Feli, you're back!" Gil exclaimed as I got myself seated at the table.

"I'm back!" I exclaimed, grinning. I brought my backpack around and took out the lunch Eliza had made.

"We've missed you," Kiku said with a smile.

"You . . . doing okay?" Herc asked.

"I'm alright," I said. "Ludwig, Lovi, Toni—you guys are still okay, right?"

"Better now that you're back," Ludwig said with a broad smile.

"We're doing fine," Toni exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure every part of my life just got five times better," Lovi remarked, smiling.

"I've always wondered—is it difficult to use that?" Mei asked, gesturing to the wheelchair.

"Not really, once you're used to it," I said with a shrug. "Ramps are really useful!"

"Must be hard to give hugs, though," Francis said thoughtfully.

Ludwig stood, came around next to me, and knelt, wrapping his arms around my torso.

"Not really," I said as he pulled back.

* * *

"Okay, but if we're _really careful_ —"

"No," Ludwig and I said together.

Gil frowned. We were hanging out in the library for free period. "I'm just saying—"

"For the last time, you are _not_ sending Feli willy-nilly down a hill," Ludwig snapped.

"That sounds really scary," I added.

"But if we use a bungee cord—"

" _No!"_

* * *

I texted Eliza during art class to let her know when to pick me up. And when class ended, I told the teacher I was going to stay behind. I had some portraits to finish!

* * *

"How was school?" Eliza asked, helping me out of the wheelchair and into the car seat.

"It was really good," I exclaimed, getting myself buckled in as she put the chair in the back. "It was really nice to see everyone in class and at lunch again!"

"Oh, that's good," she said, smiling. She got herself into the front seat and started up the car. "Roderich's at the house right now, unfortunately, but he said he's going out for dinner tonight, so we've got it to ourselves this evening. And—" She braked at a light. "The job interview went well! We'll know if I got it or not within a few days."

"I should get a job, too," I said. "Do you think I could sell paintings?"

"Art supplies can be expensive, so we'll see," she said.

"Art class is my favorite," I added. "I'm probably only gonna miss that one after graduation!"

"You're still planning to take a year off, right?"

I nodded. "I can work on college next year."

We pulled into the driveway. The rest of the evening was pretty peaceful. Eliza helped me exercise my legs, and stepfather wasn't there . . .

It was all really nice!

* * *

 **We've got one more chapter!**


	42. The Gifts, the Ceremony, and the Finale

June was finally here—we had just one week before our graduation, and our whole grade was getting antsy. A lot of people were starting to skip classes to enjoy the weather.

"Yo, Feli," Gil said at lunch. "What's in the bag?"

I smiled and brought it up to the table, reaching inside.

"I finished them," I announced. "These count as birthday presents for this past year and this summer!"

"That works," Al said with a shrug. The others helped pass them around to their respective owners.

For a moment there was silence.

"No good?" I asked.

"Dude, Feli, holy shit," Gil exclaimed. "How the hell are you so good?"

"What?"

"These are awesome," Al said, grinning. "Like, what the fuck, is this a mirror?"

"Thank you," Kiku said, smiling. "I should get a frame for this."

"We'll go . . . to the store together," Herc murmured. "I need one, too."

"You've improved so much since two years ago," Ludwig remarked with a broad smile. "This is amazing."

"This is so great," Matt whispered.

"I love it," Toni proclaimed.

Mei only smiled and held her portrait close.

"I bet I could make this come to life," Artie remarked.

"Don't blow it up," Francis exclaimed. "It's too good for that."

"I only meant make it move in the canvas!"

Lovi stared at his portrait. "It's . . . really good," he said at last. He sounded like he was about to cry.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

* * *

"Can't believe they're making us practice for the ceremony today," Al grumbled in first period. It was a few days before our graduation. "All we gotta do is walk up and get the thing."

"That's not all," Artie said. "I've gone to my brother's and stepbrothers' graduations. They have specific motions for walking with a certain group, how you're supposed to accept your diploma, all that."

"Yeah, but that's boring. Why do we have to have this pomp and circumstance about it?"

Artie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I hope I'll do okay," I said, shifting in the wheelchair.

"I'm sure they'll have someone to help you if you need it," Artie said reassuringly. "Not to mention that they'll have wheelchair ramps, so it's not like you'll have to try to go up stairs."

* * *

The practice ceremony went okay. Someone tripped, and Al shook the person's hand a little too hard, but it went okay.

Everyone got their robes and hats in our school colors the day before our graduation. The robes would definitely be hot in the warm weather, but the place for the ceremony was going to be air-conditioned, and we wouldn't have to wear them for long.

* * *

Finally, the day of our graduation arrived. Our school's was in the evening—I think it was the last one that day. We got to the place when the sun was low in the sky.

"Nervous?" Eliza asked as she helped me out of the car and into my wheelchair. Stepfather stood nearby. He looked like he didn't know what to do.

"Yeah," I admitted, fixing my hat.

"You'll do just fine. You practiced the other day, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"It'll be done before you know it." She smiled. "Do you need any help getting to where you need to be?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Alright. We'll see you later!"

I waved and got on my way. People around me cleared the way once they realized I was coming.

* * *

"Feli—!"

I found Lovi (part of the group I had to walk with) waving and wheeled over to him.

"Hi!" I exclaimed. He bent down and we hugged.

"I've been here for a while," he admitted, straightening up again. "Toni and I left really early to get a little bit of food on the way."

"Once Eliza and me are moved out, I bet we can invite you and Toni over for dinner sometimes," I offered.

"Holy shit, why are you so nice?"

"What?"

"Stop being so nice!"

I grinned. "I'll talk to her about it later!"

* * *

The speeches and talks and stuff went on for almost an hour while everyone waited. I could see Al fidgeting a few rows ahead.

The valedictorian and salutatorians went first. Ludwig, Artie, and Mei were all salutatorians, which was really amazing! I didn't know where I placed in class ranking, but it probably wasn't very high. I saw them looking around the audience as they went back to their seats. Ludwig smiled at me, Artie smiled at Francis, and Mei waved a little to Al, who was waving a lot. Matt made him put his hands down.

Once they'd all sat down, they started calling up everyone else. Gil was in one of the first groups for the letter B, and he grinned at the audience before he sat.

Francis was in one of the last groups for B, and I think I saw him wink at Artie on his way back to his seat.

Toni went up not long after Francis! He looked a little nervous, but he found Lovi and waved and grinned, and Lovi grinned in response.

A little while later, Kiku's turn came. He looked really short compared to everyone else, but it's not like he was tripping over his robes. He didn't look for anyone as he sat down—I think he really wanted to stick to the ceremony script of going straight back to your seat without straying.

Al and Matt were a little bit after! Al went first, and he shook the woman's hand a little too hard, and then Matt did it a little too softly. Al winked at Mei on his way back, and Matt smiled at Gil.

Herc went up a couple groups later. As he walked back to his seat, he grinned a little at Kiku.

And after that . . . it took a long time for them to get to the letter V, but finally, Lovi and I got to go up.

"You okay with this?" he whispered, going behind me and grabbing the wheelchair's handles to maneuver me quickly to our places.

I shrugged. "It's faster."

We waited in line as a few others went ahead of us. And then—

"Lovino Vargas!"

Lovi stepped ahead, approached the podium, took his diploma, and shook the woman's hand. He stepped off the stage and waited for a bit. I wheeled myself forward.

"Feliciano Vargas-Edelstein!"

I reached up, took my diploma, and shook the woman's hand with a smile. I wheeled away as quickly as I could without hurting myself and went down the ramp. Once there, Lovi took the handles again and helped me get back to our seats, scooting around my legs once I was there.

* * *

". . . Congratulations, graduates!"

Everyone took off their hats and threw them high into the air! Mine landed on my head, on the edge—I grabbed it and put it back on right. Lovi had managed to make his come down directly onto his head normally.

* * *

"I need pictures! Hold still—"

Eliza took a few pictures before bending down and hugging me.

"Oh, congratulations," she exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you!"

I grinned. "Thanks!"

"Congratulations," stepfather said stiffly. I smiled at him.

"Wait—!" Eliza straightened up and hurried to the crowd to catch two people passing by.

"I need pictures of you two, too," she insisted, bringing Toni and Lovi along.

"Eliza, come on," Lovi exclaimed.

"That's okay, Mrs. Edelstein," Toni said, grinning.

"I insist! Now, hold still—"

She ended up taking a bunch more pictures, some with them alone, and some with all of us.

"Okay," she said. "You're free to go. Be safe!"

"I'll see you around," Lovi said, hugging her. Her smile was one of the biggest I'd ever seen as she hugged him back.

* * *

"Feli, there you are!"

It was a warm summer day. We'd all agreed to meet up at the park to have some snacks and just hang out on a blanket on the grass.

Ludwig and Al came jogging over as I paused in wheeling myself across the grass to meet everyone.

"Need any help?" Al offered.

"Yeah," I admitted. "It's really hard to move this across grass . . ."

"Is it okay to carry you?" Ludwig asked.

"Can I try walking?" I said hopefully. "I've been doing exercises."

"Hold onto me," Ludwig ordered. He helped me get out while Al quickly folded up my wheelchair and carried it under one arm.

Slowly, _really_ slowly, I shuffled across the grass, holding Ludwig's shoulders for support. But before I was even halfway there, it felt like a bolt of electricity went through my legs and I would've collapsed if Ludwig hadn't grabbed me.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Are you alright? I'll carry you."

I nodded and let him pick me up and carry me the rest of the way. He set me down on the blanket really gently and I rolled over so I lay on my stomach.

"Thanks," I murmured, grabbing his hand and kissing the back once he'd sat down. Al set down the wheelchair off to the side and jumped onto the blanket.

"Holy shit, Feli, that was awesome," Gil exclaimed.

"I didn't make it all the way," I protested.

"Still, for someone who couldn't walk at all two months ago . . ." Artie grinned. "Good job!"

"How's life?" Lovi asked. He and Toni leaned against each other.

"Eliza got a job," I announced, "and we're moving out tomorrow!"

"Oh, that's great," Mei said, smiling.

"How're you doing?" Al asked Mei. "Forgot to ask earlier."

She shrugged. "I'm supposed to meet with my dad sometime this summer, so . . . there's that."

"I'll beat him up if he touches you," Al promised.

"Please don't!"

I heard a noise and looked around. I realized Herc was resting on his back with a cat on his stomach.

"Is that your cat?" I asked.

"No," Herc murmured. "She just showed up."

"Oh, okay."

Kiku looked really happy. He was using one hand to pet the cat and the other to play with Herc's hair.

"Arthur, were you going to tell them about our other visitors?" Francis asked.

Artie frowned at him. "Well, now I _have_ to, thank you."

"You could've used a memory spell—"

"I don't have any bricks with me, and I can't make them out of thin air—" He sighed. "Guys, my friends are here."

"We know," Ludwig muttered.

"I meant the fae."

"Faye who?" Toni asked.

"Faeries," Artie said, rolling his eyes. "Sage, Rowan, Marigold, and Fern."

"Are you fucking with us?" Gil demanded. Kiku looked up.

"I'll vouch for him," Francis said, raising a hand. "Sage is on Arthur's head, Mari's on Herc's cat, Rowan's trying to talk to the cat and he's angry because the cat's ignoring him, and Fern's resting over there." He gestured a little ways away from the blanket.

"Okay, but the thing is, you could be in cahoots," Lovi pointed out.

"I guess it doesn't matter if you believe us or not," Artie said, shrugging.

A crow landed on Gil's shoulder.

"Oh, goddammit, not now," he muttered.

Matt covered his mouth, laughing a little. "That looks kind of cool."

"Gilbert, the Bird King," Kiku whispered.

"Or king of the bird-brains," Francis added.

A little yellow bird landed on Gil's other shoulder.

"Oh, sweet," he said, glancing to the side. "Guys, this is Gilbird."

"You're such a nerd, naming a bird after yourself," Al muttered.

"Shut up."

"Hey, Ludwig?" I said. "Can you pick some flowers and bring them over here?"

"Sure," he said, standing. He came back a minute later with a bunch of little daisies and put them in front of me. I started messing with them and putting them together.

"And . . . here," I announced. I reached up and put the flower crown on Ludwig's head.

"That's so cute," Mei exclaimed.

"Mei, I'm doing one for you," Al said quickly. "Also, how do you make one?"

"I'll show you," she offered.

"Luddie, keep that on, I want a picture," Gil said.

"I'm not letting you—"

"Come down here a second," I said to Ludwig. He leaned down and I kissed his nose. He kissed my nose a second later.

"You two are saps," Herc said sleepily.

"Says the one who practically wears a wedding ring already," Gil muttered, gesturing to the strings Herc and Kiku wore. The crow cawed and everyone jumped.

"We've gotta hang out this summer, before we all go off to college or whatever," Toni declared. "We can go to the park, and we gotta celebrate Francis's birthday—"

"And ours," Al said, grabbing Matt's shoulder.

"Plus, _some_ of us have dates to go on," Ludwig added.

I smiled. I always loved hanging out with everyone, even if we were just sitting and talking.

This fall, a bunch of us were going off to college, so we wouldn't be able to meet up as much, but this summer . . .

This summer was going to be great!

* * *

~Fin~

* * *

 **It's been almost four years since I started writing the first story of this trilogy, way back in 2012. I never expected it to get as long as it did, nor gain as many followers. While I'm sad to see this story go, I think it's high time to bring this all to a close.**

 **Everyone, thank you so much for all your support!**


End file.
